Shattered Reality
by Wolfram003
Summary: DISCONTINUED. Even perfect families fight. Eiji finds out this fact the hard way and has quite a hard time accepting it after he's caught in the middle. Eventual GP, MomoRyo, and InuKai.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I wanted to write a story where Eiji does _not_ have a perfect family that never has major fights. Truthfully, I believe this is possibly the only Prince of Tennis fanfic of this style that I've ever seen. I hope everyone enjoys it, and I'd really like for someone to review, as it _is_ my first Prince of Tennis fanfic. For the record, I have almost finished this story already, so I plan to actually complete this fanfic at the moment. Thank you.

**Rating:** PG-13  
**Warnings: **Possible spoilers (not that I've seen/read that much of the series yet), Eiji-angst.  
**Pairings: **Eventual Golden Pair, possible MomoRyo, InuKai.

**Disclaimer**: Unfortunately, I do not own this wonderful series. The heaven-sent creator of Prince of Tennis is Konomi Takeshi. (This is my disclaimer for the whole story, by the way.)

* * *

**Shattered Reality**  
_Chapter One  
By Abyssinian003_

Eiji fought to keep himself from clapping his hands over his ears. What was going on? Why was his dad making such a big deal out of everything? He personally thought it was nice that his sister had found someone to love and who loved her back just as much. It shouldn't matter that it was another girl.

"Some _loving_ father you are! I _hate_ you! I _despise_ you with all my _soul_!"

No, things shouldn't be this way. His father and his sister shouldn't be fighting. The Kikumaru family _never_ fought like this!

"You are no longer my daughter! Get out of this house! Find somewhere else to live!"

This was _wrong_—so very, _very_ wrong. Would his father have reacted this way if anyone else had told him the same scenario? Eiji had been planning to let his family know that he thought he… Well, that he liked his best friend, Oishi Shuichirou. After seeing his dad's reaction to his sister's simple statement, the redhead was absolutely devastated. How could his dad, his family, act like this?

"Fine! I'll find somewhere where people can accept me for how I am!"

He suddenly had the oddest urge to clutch at his heart. His lungs felt extremely tight and breathing was becoming difficult. He had to stop this before someone said anything else that they'd regret! He glanced around at his other siblings only to discover that they were watching the scene with fascinated horror, not about to do anything about it. With a final shake of his head, tossing his crimson locks violently, he darted between his fighting family members, spreading out his arms as if to block them from one another.

"Stop it! Stop _fighting_!" Eiji screamed, tears welling up at the corners of his eyes, as he struggled to keep his father and sister apart. He hadn't been between them long enough and both were too blind with rage for either of them to register his presence. As Eiji saw the hand flying toward his face, he couldn't help but wonder how an argument over something as trivial as his eldest sister's preference of lovers had reached the level of exchanging blows. He flinched as his father's hand met his face with a sharp _smack_, a tear escaping his right eye and dampening his ever-present bandage, and whimpered at the unexpected pain of his sister's fist connecting with his back with a fleshy _thud_, allowing a second tear to escape his left eye.

A tense, frigid silence doused the Kikumaru family room as Eiji's father reeled back from his son, looking at his hand in horror. His voice seemed to catch in his throat as he reached out to his youngest child, only to have him cower away, "Oh, E-Eiji! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"

The redhead's voice was choked with emotion as he answered furiously, "You _did_! Both of you were going to hit each other! Why? _Why_ are you fighting? How can you disown her? I thought we were a family that cared about and loved each other no matter what! Why are you being such a _hypocrite_ suddenly? All she did was tell you that she had a _girlfriend_! What's so _wrong_ with that?"

His voice trailed off pitifully, and the redhead angrily shook off his other siblings worried, caring grips before turning to his eldest sister, "And _you_! What gives _you_ the right to say that you despise dad? Do you really not realize how _much_ he and mom have gone through to raise you—to raise _all_ of us?"

"I—" he scrubbed furiously as the tears in his bright blue eyes, "I-I can't deal with this right now!" As the acrobat's feet pounded up the stairs, across the floor, and led him into his room—his one safe haven at the moment—he faintly heard his family calling his name. Then _everyone_ started shouting at each other, and he couldn't help feeling that he was the cause of it all.

He sat on his bed just staring down at his slipper-covered feet, fingers desperately brushing over what he knew would be bruises in the morning. He finally gathered his bravery and glanced up into the small mirror in his room, staring deadly at his reflection. Was that really _him_? Was that devastated, _crying_ boy in the mirror really Kikumaru Eiji?

Before he even realized what he was doing, the redhead had crossed his room, feet practically flying across the floor, and grabbed his tennis bag. He dumped everything onto his bed uncaring of whether it was damaged in the process, even his beloved tennis racket. He hauled his bag over to his dresser and crammed a few outfits into it, distantly hearing his tears connect with the floor. He pulled his newest pair of tennis shoes over his feet roughly before snatching his racket up from his bed and stuffing it into his bag, absently grabbing a roll of grip tape and fiddling with it in the process.

They were still fighting downstairs. He briefly wondered if any of them knew that he could hear everything—every single spoken word—that they were saying. He didn't _want_ to hear what they were saying.

He stalked over to his window and opened it. Sure, he was on the second story of the house, but there was a tall, seeming sturdy tree _right_ outside of his window. It made for the perfect escape route, not that he'd ever wanted—needed—to use it before today.

Eiji had just begun to climb out onto a thick tree limb when a loud knock sounded throughout his room. He didn't deign to answer it, so the person asked, "Eiji, honey, are you okay?" It was his mother. He belatedly recognized her voice as he shifted the rest of his body out of the window and wondered when the woman had come home.

She hadn't been there when the fight had started. It never would have gone as far as it did if she _had_ been. Mom just didn't tolerate violence of that kind in the Kikumaru household.

"Go away!" he yelled as the grip tape dropped from his hands to the grass below. His sharp blue eyes followed the roll, noting how far the drop was. His room appeared to be further from the ground than he had first thought.

He heard her hesitate before he heard her footsteps fade away as she traveled down the stairs. The house was quiet now, he realized. When had that happened? He glanced at the clock, noticed the time was around 8 PM, and filed that thought away in the back of his mind.

Oh well, he decided, he still wanted to be as far away from this house as he could possibly be at the moment. He didn't want to be hurt anymore. The question was, he noted to himself as he carefully climbed down the trunk of the tree, where could he go? He couldn't go to Oishi; he didn't want to worry him. Oishi had enough of his own problems. He _definitely_ couldn't go to Fuji; the honey-haired boy would most likely go on a rampage—he was very protective like that. That left…

His foot slipped, and he fell the rest of the way to the ground. He let out a pained, "Nya," as he rolled off of his injured back. Tears stung his eyes again, but he swiped at them before they had a chance to fall. He had cried enough today.

Returning to his previous train of though, he realized that he really had no other place to go. He didn't really know anyone else well enough to go to them, and he really didn't want to worry anyone. This was his own problem, after all, and he had to deal with it himself.

Shakily, he stood and snatched his bag from the ground, promptly swinging it over his shoulder as he ran out the gate to his house and into the dark night.

**To be continued…

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**

Glossary of Terms:

_Nya_—nonsensical term used by Eiji.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: Thank you for all the nice comments on chapter one, everyone! I hope someone likes this chapter, and yes, I realize how overdramatic Eiji is being. However, when you're used to such a caring family and then you're exposed to a situation like this, it _is_ rather hard to deal with.

Anyway, this chapter is leading up to the appearance of Oishi and Fuji. They come into the story in the next chapter. Feel free to point out any mistakes—grammar, spelling, or an inconsistency in the plot (of which I'm sure there are many).

**Rating**: PG-13  
**Warnings**: Eiji-angst, semi-compassionate!Ryoma (yes, I do know how wrong that is), appearance of slight one-sided Ryoma/Eiji (because I believe if Ryoma didn't like Eiji at all, he wouldn't let him glomp him so much.  
**Pairings**: Eventual Golden Pair, possible MomoRyo, InuKai, TezFuji.

* * *

_**Shattered Reality**  
Chapter Two  
By Abyssinian003_

Echizen Ryoma was late for school. He had slept through his alarm clock again, and no one had bothered to wake him up. It was really nothing new. The first-year Seishun Gakuen student was quite familiar with this scenario by now, but he had to admit that he mourned the loss of sharing Momo-_senpai_'s bicycle for the morning. Momo was probably the only reason he made it to school on time on any given day.

He tilted the Ponta can in his hand back against his lips and allowed the cool liquid to quench his thirst as he strolled along the sidewalk at his own pace. If he was already late, why should he rush? Plus, it was a beautiful day, even if it had rained sometime during the early morning and was a little chilly for his taste. He finished off the can and made as if to toss it into the trashcan just up ahead when a flash of familiar red caught his eye.

Curiously, he peeked around the corner into the alley, asking, "Kikumaru-_senpai_?"

There was something inherently wrong about the scene he found, he decided within five seconds of taking everything in. One of Kikumaru Eiji's hands was fisted into his hair, pulling at it tightly as he used his other arm to bring his knees to rest firmly against his chest. Even with all the noise of passing cars and pedestrians, Ryoma could hear the third-year's harsh, if somewhat stifled, sobs.

Alarm found its way through his usually indifferent mask almost immediately, and he rushed to the redhead's side. He reached out to touch the other boy before drawing his hand back hesitantly. Eiji apparently hadn't heard him, and he really didn't want to startle the acrobat.

"Kikumaru-_senpai_?" The redhead jumped and looked around with wild, tear-stained eyes. Ryoma kept still until his fellow tennis player recognized him. "Hoi, it's just you, Ochibi."

Ryoma couldn't help but notice that Kikumaru hadn't even sounded remotely happy to see him. He tilted his head to meet the other boy's wandering gaze and asked, "What's wrong? What are you doing in this alley?"

Eiji tilted his head and scrubbed at his blue eyes again, "Nothing's wrong, Ochibi. I'm just not having a good day." The elder boy tried to rest his right cheek on his knee, winced, and drew in a sharp breath. Ryoma immediately noticed, but he didn't say a word about it.

"What are _you_ doing in this alley, Ochibi?"

Ryoma jerked back and tugged his cap down in reflex to hide his blush. He wasn't going to let Kikumaru-_senpai_ know he was worried about him anymore than he already had. "_Mada mada dane._"

"Yeah," Ryoma's insides nearly froze at the desolate tone of his upperclassman's voice, "I _do_ have a long way to go, don't I? It's not like I can go back, is it? As it is, I don't really have anywhere I _can_ go."

"What… do you mean by that, Kikumaru-_senpai_?" he asked cautiously, afraid to know the answer. He was _not_ the right type of person to deal with these situations. Oishi-_senpai _was much better at such things.

Eiji didn't answer. Instead, he shifted, uncurling from his former position and resting his head back against the wall. Ryoma's golden eyes widened at the sight of the dark, hand-shaped bruise on the other boy's right cheek. Tears were welling up in Eiji's crystal blue eyes as he whispered quietly, "I don't _want_ to go back, Ochibi. They fought over such a stupid thing, and I got caught in the middle, nya. I don't want that to happen again, but I-I don't have anywhere else to go. I don't want anyone to worry about me…"

Ryoma nearly panicked at the sight of his almost constantly happy teammate crying—more like, bawling his eyes out—and looked around for a distraction. When he caught sight of the rumpled, worse-for-the-wear, Seigaku tennis bag resting next to the older teen, suddenly, everything clicked—Kikumaru's words, the bag, the bruise (bruis_es_?).

The raven-haired boy's eyes widened drastically as he asked hesitantly, "You ran away?"

"I'm such an idiot, Ochibi," Eiji nodded miserably, clutching at his red locks once again. Ryoma looked him over once again, noting the state he was in. The redhead's hair hung damply around his face instead of flipping outwards in its usual style, and his clothes were soaked through. He was clutching his Seigaku regular jacket close to his body, clinging to its fleeting warmth. Even in the dim light, Ryoma could tell that the other boy was paler than usual and that a dark flush stained his cheeks.

"How long have you been out here, Kikumaru-_senpai_?"

"Tell me what time it is, and I'll let you know, Ochibi."

"It's around 10:30 AM."

"I'm late for school!" Eiji looked stunned for a moment before standing up quickly. When he froze for a moment and clutched at the wall as if to stay on his feet, Ryoma decided to help him. "Kikumaru-_senpai_, don't worry about school. You're obviously sick."

Eiji made a pained, pitiful face, "Hoi, why is the world spinning, Ochibi?"

Ryoma started at the question. Hadn't he just explained that? He cast his fellow tennis player a wary look, "Kikumaru-_senpai_, you're sick. Here, why don't you sit down again?" He helped his teammate slide down the wall, eyes narrowing when Eiji winced as the brick touched his back.

"Better?"

"Hoi," was the redhead's response.

Ryoma eyed the boy once more before announcing, "Since I'm already late and I have a good enough excuse, I'll call _oyaji_ and have him come pick us up. You can stay at my house for a while, if you really want to."

A smile lifted the corners of Eiji's lips slightly before it disappeared. Blue eyes slid shut, and Eiji leaned his head back against the wall again. "Thanks, Ochibi. You're the best."

Golden eyes regarded his—friend, perhaps—teammate with worry as the other boy obviously passed into the realm of unconsciousness. He reached out hesitantly, pale fingers brushing against the formerly tan skin of his teammate's forehead, and drew his hand back almost immediately. Kikumaru-_senpai _had a really bad fever!

Ryoma dug through his school bag for his cell phone—most everyone had one nowadays—frowning at his terrible luck. Now he was even later to school, and—_no_, that didn't matter right now. He'd call _oyaji_ and _make_ him drive over here to pick them up. It was the _least_ he could do for his red-haired teammate at the moment.

Smirking triumphantly he removed his cell phone from his bag. His golden eyes narrowed at the power bar, and he thought about screaming in frustration for a brief second; however, as the case was, that would be very unlike him, so he didn't scream, though he _did_ growl obscenities under his breath. One bar—there was no possible way he could call _oyaji_ and get him to act seriously in the short amount of time that his phone's battery had left.

However, he could text someone and just stay with Kikumaru-_senpai_ until they got the message. He had no doubt in his mind that whoever he sent the message to would rush to meet them. Kikumaru seemed to leave a good impression on most people; he was lovable enough, though Ryoma had decided long ago he would rather die than admit that to any other living being.

So, with his phone beeping ominously at him, Ryoma quickly sent Oishi Shuichirou a short message of urgency. Hopefully, the mother of Seigaku would check his phone during the lunch hour. If not…

Well, Ryoma wasn't sure what he _could_ do for his redheaded teammate if he didn't have any help. It was times like these that made him wish that he had just a bit more height.

**To be continued...**

Glossary of Terms:  
-_senpai_—upperclassman.  
_Ochibi_—I've seen it translated numerous ways. One such translation is "baby."  
_Mada Mada Dane_—Again, I've seen it translated numerous ways, but I actually like the "You still have a long way to go" translation the best.  
_Hoi/Nya_—nonsensical terms used by Eiji.  
_oyaji_—I believe it roughly means "Old man." Ryoma calls Nanjirou that in the anime, if I heard it correctly.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Again, thank you for all the nice comments! Oishi and Fuji show up in this chapter. There's not much Oishi/Eiji fluff, I'm afraid. Most of that's in chapter four. This chapter is mainly setting it up so that the Golden Pair can have some alone time together. ;

**Rating**: PG-13  
**Warnings**: Eiji-angst  
**Pairings**: Eventual Golden Pair, possible MomoRyo, InuKai, and TezFuji.

* * *

_**Shattered Reality**  
Chapter Three  
By Abyssinian003_

"Oishi, have you talked to Eiji today? He's not here, and he usually calls me if he knows he can't make it to school," Fuji Shuusuke asked the vice-captain of Seigaku's tennis team. Oishi frowned; that was rather unusual. "No, I haven't heard from him today, but I turned off my phone earlier so it wouldn't ring in class. I'll check it, if you want."

Fuji opened his eyes, any traces of a former smile dropping from his lips, "Would you? I've had this strange feeling all day. I'm worried that something happened to him."

Seeing that the _tensai_ was serious, Oishi quickly retrieved his phone from his pocket. In his haste, he nearly dropped the device before he managed to turn it on. The welcome screen flashed once before letting him know that he had one voice message and one text message.

Anxiousness assaulted him as he listened to the voice message.

**_"Oishi-kun, this is Eiji's mother. Have you seen my son at all this morning? The school called to let me know that he was not there, and I thought he had just left early. I'm rather worried about him at the moment. Please call me to let me know if you see him." _**

He must have paled or something of the sort because Fuji was asking him if he was okay. Oishi took a shaky breath and slowly dialed the Kikumaru family's phone number, pretty much ignoring Fuji in the process. After a few rings, Eiji's mother answered and asked who was calling.

"Hello, Kikumaru-_san_. This is Oishi Shuichirou. I just wanted to let you know that I haven't seen Eiji today. Is there some reason you're looking for him?" Oishi waited patiently for her answer, but he was immediately worried when he heard what sounded like a stifled sob from the other line.

"Kikumaru-_san_? Are you all right? Did… something happen?" She quickly assured him that it was nothing, and that, if he should find Eiji, she would greatly appreciate it if he would call her. Then she hung up, leaving Oishi with many unanswered questions.

He shared a startled look with Fuji, who had apparently heard most of the conversation. "Oishi, did I understand that correctly? Kikumaru-_san_ can't find Eiji?" Oishi nodded, stunned at the horrid information.

Dazedly, the dark-haired boy decided to check his text message. It most likely wasn't from Eiji. The redhead liked to actually speak to him instead of typing messages out. He allowed his green eyes to register the number of origin, and his features took on a look of puzzlement. Why would Echizen of all people text him?

**Found Kikumaru-senpai.**

He let out a breath of relief before reading the next line.

**He's sick.**

His breath caught in his throat, and, shaking, he scrolled down to the next line.

**Come help.**

Echizen had been kind enough to give directions, even if they were vague and heavily abbreviated. Oishi now had a dilemma: should he wait until school is out, or should he go find Echizen and Eiji right now? His mind was made up before he even stood from the ground. Without thinking, Oishi grabbed Fuji's wrist and started pulling him away from the school, "Come on!"

"Where are we going?" Any remnants of Fuji's mask from earlier in the day had completely disappeared. His sapphire eyes watched Oishi's tense form before he said, "I see. That text message said something about Eiji, right?"

Oishi nodded stiffly as he tried to remember the highly abbreviated (read: heavily slaughtered) directions Ryoma had given at the end of the message. They were in an alley, apparently, and very close to the storage bin that he and Eiji usually lounged around on, if he correctly understood the area Echizen was speaking of.

Fuji had tugged his arm away a few minutes before they came to what Oishi had thought was the right place. The honey-haired teen looked around for any sign of Eiji or Ryoma, as did Oishi, but to the disappointment of the duo, neither saw anything relating to their two teammates.

"Oishi-_senpai_! Fuji-_senpai_!" Both jumped as Ryoma's voice reached them. They glanced about and noticed him quite a ways from where they were searching. Fuji frowned at Oishi, but in his defense, Oishi stated that Ryoma's directions were vague and that he would let Fuji read them later, if he wanted.

"Ochibi! Why did you call them?" Eiji's angered shout surprised both tennis players as they made their way over to their teammates. Ryoma shrugged and cast a sideways glance at the irate redhead, "What else was I supposed to do? They would have killed me if I'd left you here by yourself, and I didn't call either of them, for the record. My phone didn't have enough power for that."

The youngest Seigaku regular tugged his cap down over his eyes as if to hid from Eiji's sudden glare. Eiji was livid; Ryoma promptly confirmed his theory that even peaceful redheads had that stereotypical temper somewhere in them. "I told you I didn't want to worry anyone!"

"It's a little late for that, Eiji. Your mother's already called me to ask if I'd seen you. Do you mind telling me why?"

Both Ryoma and Eiji went silent at the question. They shared a look, and the red-haired acrobat paled, clutching at the wall beside him once again. Startled, Ryoma reached out to steady him, "Kikumaru-_senpai_!"

"Hoi, the world's spinning again, Ochibi."

Oishi—with a shout of, "Eiji!"—and Fuji were instantly at the redhead's side, keeping him from falling. Fuji brushed a sweat-dampened strand of hair from Eiji's forehead and frowned when he noticed his friend's fever. Oishi also noticed the heat and suggested, "Come on, Eiji. Just lean on us. We'll take you home, okay?"

Neither of them had expected Eiji to react so violently to the plan. He shook his head violently, tossing his crimson hair about his head. "Nya! No! No way! I'm not going back!"

Oishi froze, gasping, when he noticed a dark patch on Eiji's cheek. At first he thought it was just a shadow, but then Eiji stopped shaking his head, apparently feeling woozy. Fuji also noticed, and a strange, frightening glint entered his open, steel blue eyes.

The calmer half of the Golden Pair reached out and hesitantly brushed his fingers against the too-dark bruise on his partner's cheek. Eiji immediately whimpered in pain and tried to pull away from him. Oishi drew back his hand as if he had been burned, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! _Eiji_, how did this happen? Who did this?"

The red-haired teen shook his head once before burying his face into his partner's shoulder. Oishi embraced him tightly and let his friend—though Ryoma had always had a suspicion that there was more going on between them—cry into his shirt. The vice-captain of the Seigaku tennis club seemed physically pained by Eiji's anguish.

Ryoma looked away, uncomfortable with the wrongness of the whole scenario (Kikumaru-_senpai_ was almost always happy around him, after all), but to his credit, he said nothing. He belatedly noticed Fuji watching him suspiciously and knew that he would be interrogated by Fuji, Oishi, or both of them later. He glanced down at his watch; it was now 11:30 AM—so much for even attempting to go to school. Surely _oyaji_ would understand, wouldn't he?

Fuji then asked the question that Kikumaru had efficiently dodged earlier, "Eiji, how long have you been out here?" The redhead stilled for a moment, as if to gather his bearings. He lifted his face just high enough from Oishi's shoulder to peek at Fuji.

"I left around eight o'clock last night."

Ryoma couldn't help the noise of disbelief that escaped him, "You aren't serious, are you? That would mean that you've been out here, sitting in the rain overnight, for over half a day now." He paused and glanced at the acrobat in incredulity, "Please tell me you haven't."

In response to his comment, Eiji hid his face against Oishi's shoulder again, shivering slightly. Oishi, who was obviously very upset by everything but was trying to be strong for his friend—Ryoma _still_ thought the Golden Pair were more than that—breathed a quiet, "Eiji," as he held him tighter.

Picking up his bag, Ryoma turned to face Fuji, who had backed off from the pair some time ago, "I'm going to walk home and get _oyaji_ to drive down here so you two don't have to help him walk back to my house. It's a fairly long walk. I don't think Kikumaru-_senpai_ could make it in his condition."

"I'll go with you."

Ryoma suddenly wished he hadn't announced his plans as he dared to meet Fuji-_senpai_'s icy gaze. Somehow, he knew the _tensai_'s offer translated to, "_I want to know what happened and who hurt my best friend, and you're going to tell me everything you know, aren't you?_" Ryoma couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine as he and Fuji started on the _long_ walk back to his house.

**To be continued…

* * *

**

Glossary of Terms:  
-_senpai_— upperclassman.  
-_san_— term used to show respect for an elder.  
_Ochibi_— I've seen it translated numerous ways. One such translation is "baby." ;  
_Hoi/Nya_— nonsensical terms used by Eiji.  
_oyaji_— I believe it roughly means "Old man." Ryoma calls Nanjirou that in the anime, if I heard it correctly. ;  
_tensai_— Translates to "genius" or "prodigy."


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N_**: Here's the next chapter. It's very short, but it's filled with Golden Pair fluff. Enjoy!

* * *

_**Shattered Reality**  
Chapter Four  
By Abyssinian003_

Fuji and Ryoma had been gone for a good amount of time before Eiji's bawling had faded into quiet, almost silent hiccups. Oishi continued to hold him in a protective embrace, softly stroking his damp crimson locks and whispering, "Everything will be all right, Eiji. Please calm down."

Eiji sniffled and lifted his head from Oishi's shoulder. Pain swam in his tear-bright eyes as he looked up to meet his partner's emerald eyes. "Oishi, I don't want to go home."

"What happened, Eiji?" Oishi gently cupped the redhead's injured cheek in his left palm, ghosting his thumb over the deep bruise. "Who did this? Why did your mother call me to ask if I'd seen you?"

Eiji tried to look away but found himself unable to. Flustered by the close presence of his friend—hopefully so much more than that someday—the redhead found himself explaining before he even realized what he was doing. Oishi listened intently, continuing to stroke his hair calmingly.

"I was going to tell my family, especially _'Tousan_ and _'Kaasan_, something very important tonight. _'Neesan_ also wanted to tell everyone something, so I let her go first. It turned out that she had the same news as me, in a way. There wasn't anything wrong with what she said, at least that's what I thought. I was honestly really happy for her, but _'Tousan_ didn't like what she said. Then they were arguing—_screaming_—with each other, a-and everyone was just _watching_. No one was _doing_ anything!"

The acrobat's breath caught in his throat as Oishi wiped away the tears he hadn't realized he'd been crying. Warm lips brushed against his forehead, and his cheeks burned an even brighter red. His blue eyes fluttered shut as Oishi's name escaped his lips.

The dark-haired vice-captain pulled back abruptly, startled. A light blush crossed his features, and he looked away in embarrassment. "I'm sorry Eiji. I shouldn't have done that."

"_Nya_, it's okay, Oishi. I didn't mind," the redhead wound his arms around his doubles partner's neck and met his emerald gaze with a flustered azure stare. "Hoi! Want to know a secret?"

At Oishi's hesitant nod, Eiji continued, "I was going to tell my family that there was someone dear to me that I had feelings for." The red-haired boy's lips tugged downward into a frown, "I don't think I can now though, judging how 'Tousan took 'Neesan's news. Who cares, anyway? The only people that need to know are him," hope lit up Oishi's emerald eyes at the reference, "and myself, ne?"

Oishi eyes flickered with sadness for a moment, but he smiled sweetly nonetheless, though it seemed a bit forced, "I'm happy for you, Eiji. I'm glad that you've found someone special. Do I know this person, by any chance?"

Nodding, the acrobat replied, "Hoi! You know him very well."

Without waiting for a response from his doubles partner, Eiji continued, "He's the nicest person I know, and I'm confident that even if he doesn't feel the same way, he'll just treat me like he always does."

Eiji opened his left eye, smiling slightly, "He has the strangest hairstyle and the brightest green eyes I've ever seen in my life."

A hopeful smile was tugging at Oishi's lips as his partner's right eye opened.

"He worries too much—so much, in fact, that I didn't want to bother him with my problems yesterday even though I _know_ he would have listened if I had asked. And—"

Eiji leaned in, grinning, "This guy I like—he's sitting right in front of me, and if I dare suggest such a thing, he looks ready to kiss me. Nya, am I right?"

Oishi smiled brilliantly and closed the distance between them. Their lips met in a soft, chaste kiss before Eiji pulled back. The calm half of the Golden Pair looked confused, and the acrobat leaned into Oishi's shoulder again, "Nya, I'm sick, Oishi. I'm really tired too. Sorry. Please don't be offended."

The dark-haired teen laughed gently before wrapping his arms around his partner and pulling them closer together. "Just rest then, Eiji. I'm definitely not offended by anything, and I'll keep you safe. I won't let anyone hurt you again."

"I feel safe with you, Oishi. Thank you for staying with me," Eiji breathed. The redhead yawned, "Hoi, Oishi? Does this mean we're going out now? 'Cause I think I'd really like that."

Oishi watched him fondly, "Whatever would make you happy, Eiji." He listened to the sound of Eiji's breathing which was deep, even, and strong—not at all like the shallow, raspy breaths he'd been expecting after he'd learned that his boyfriend—_boyfriend!_—had spent his night in this horrid, cold, wet alley just to get away from—

Who had caused Eiji to run away from home? He hadn't finished his story! "Eiji," Oishi prompted, "You never told me _who_ hurt you."

Alas, the vice-captain soon realized with a disappointed sigh, his boyfriend had already been swept away to dreamland. Fondly, he pressed his lips again the other boy's hair in a silent kiss. "Sweet dreams, Eiji."

**To Be Continued…  
**

* * *

Glossary of Terms:  
_'Tousan_— Dad.  
_'Kaasan_— Mom.  
_'Neesan—_ Older sister.  
_Nya/Hoi—_Eiji-isms. 


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**: Thank you guys for all the nice comments! I'm sorry I haven't posted this sooner! Oh, I changed my screen name too, if you haven't already noticed; it's _Wolfram003_ instead of _Abyssinian003_. It matched my LJ now.

On another note, I finally got to see the translation of the lyrics for "_My Lover_," one of Eiji's songs. I just about died because they made me so happy. GP love really _is_ canon, ne?

**Warnings**: The same as previous chapters.

* * *

**_Shattered Reality_**_  
Chapter Five  
By Abyssinian003  
_

Oishi held him for around half an hour before he heard approaching footsteps. He turned his head to glance at the intruder but never let go of his boyfriend. Fuji's serious expression met his gaze. Oishi barely held back a shiver; he was glad the anger in those ice blue eyes wasn't directed at him.

"How is he?"

"He's asleep, but he's not as bad as I expected. He doesn't appear to have caught pneumonia or anything of that sort. I think he has a slight cold though, so we should keep an eye on him in case it develops into something worse. The stress caused by whatever happened—"

Fuji glared, "I left you alone with him so you could find out what happened to him, Oishi. Echizen-kun didn't know much, and what he _did_ know wasn't the least bit helpful. Oh, by the way, his father said that we could also stay the night if we wanted, since tomorrow is Sunday."

The dark-haired boy continued, casting a dry, meaningless smile toward the _tensai_, "I _tried_ to get him to explain, Fuji! He keeps avoiding giving any direct answer to the question, but I did find out _some_ of the events that led to where we are now. As I was saying, the stress everything has put on him probably isn't helping him, and I think it would be a good thing if he had friends around him right now. So I'm staying the night at Echizen's, are you?"

Fuji nodded and offered his hand to the vice-captain, "Come on. Echizen's father is waiting in the car for us, and I don't know how long Ryoma's scheme will hold up. His dad took the news that he skipped school well enough, but Ryoma still found it necessary to hold his magazine for ransom at claw-point of his cat."

"Okay," Oishi blinked, stunned by the oddness of what Fuji said. He turned to the boy leaning against his shoulder in sleep, "Eiji, it's time to go. Wake up."

The other boy mumbled something unintelligible and nuzzled against his shoulder. Oishi felt his face flush as Fuji raised an eyebrow at Eiji's actions. The vice-captain of Seigaku's tennis club tried his best to ignore the enigmatic prodigy and gently shook his boyfriend's shoulder, "Eiji, wake up."

This went on for a few minutes before Oishi gave up with a sigh. He scooped the redhead into his arms, being sure not to drop him and turned to Fuji. Emerald and sapphire exchanged worried glances.

"Follow me," Fuji ordered, and they stepped out of the alley. Oishi's attention was almost immediately drawn to loud voices coming from a nearby car. Fuji smiled, "I was being serious, Oishi. Echizen-kun really _is_ holding his father's magazine for ransom."

Oishi shook his head in disbelief, squinting. Sure enough, the Seigaku first-year had a fluffy cat in his lap, batting at the magazine dangling from his fingers. Echizen's dad was shouting at him in distress, saying something about how that was his favorite issue.

"Come on. The sooner we get to the car, the sooner that poor man can have his entertainment back," Fuji said with another smile, clearly amused at the adult's predicament.

Oishi sweat-dropped; it seemed Fuji wasn't the only person with a sadistic streak on Seigaku's team. Why did that fact not surprise him in the slightest?

They walked over to the car, and Fuji tapped on the window. Ryoma glanced through the glass pane at the group blandly. Nanjirou quieted down and frowned when he caught sight of Eiji's darkened cheek. He said something that Fuji and Oishi couldn't hear and gestured a few times before Ryoma shrugged and rolled down the window.

"What happened? How did he get hurt?" Nanjirou demanded. The elder Echizen listened to Fuji explain what was known about the situation. Ryoma had told him _nothing_; he had just stolen his beloved magazine and threatened to let Karupin rip it to shreds if he didn't drive the car to go pick up the injured member of Seigaku's tennis club.

Nanjirou viewed Oishi's protective embrace of Eiji with kind eyes and a subdued smile, but he nearly shivered when he noticed Fuji's silently dangerous demeanor. The boy seemed ready to injure anyone who dared to make a remotely snide comment about his friends. Actually, the scary kid seemed ready to kill someone, but Nanjirou thought that he was justified in feeling that way after finding his best friend—at least, that was the vibe the monk was receiving from him; perhaps he thought of Eiji as a brother?—in the state he was in.

"So," Nanjirou paused to snatch his magazine away from Ryoma, "everyone is staying the night, I take it?"

Oishi and Fuji nodded in response, and Oishi shifted his boyfriend's slipping form in his arms. The slightly jarring motion caused Eiji's eyelashes to flutter open to reveal fever-glossed blue eyes. The redhead blinked several times before asking, "Oishi? Why are you carrying me?"

The dark-haired half of the Golden Pair smiled down at him warmly, "You wouldn't wake up, so I picked you up. You don't mind, right?" Eiji blushed and shook his head, "Sorry. That's not like me at all, nya?"

Fuji's fingers itched to be holding his camera at the moment. He would give anything to capture this scene. He wouldn't even use it for blackmail as with so many others of his pictures. Honest!

"You're sick, Kikumaru-_senpai_. No one acts like they usually do when they're sick," Ryoma's blasé voice interrupted the Golden Pair's scene, causing them to start slightly. Fuji wanted to throttle the boy—he had been waiting for the Golden Pair get-together scenes for a _long_ time now!—though he knew it wouldn't do any good. Echizen just didn't care if he irritated other people. In fact, if Fuji had anything to say about it, he rather thought the boy _enjoyed_ annoying people.

"You're right, _Ochibi_—"

"Ochibi!" Nanjirou cackled. Ryoma, appearing somewhat horrified at the mention of his nickname in front of his father, snatched back the magazine and actually _let_ Karupin's claws come into contact with it, nearly growling, "_Oyaji_."

Kikumaru coughed slightly and whined, "Nya, Oishi. I don't feel so good." Oishi glanced at him with worried green eyes. Ignoring the squabbling of the Echizen family, he asked Fuji, "Could you open the door, please?"

The honey-haired prodigy nodded and did just that before stepping back and allowing Oishi to set Eiji in the car. The worried boy brushed back his boyfriend's sweat-dampened bangs as Eiji coughed a bit more. The redhead gave a tense smile as he caught sight of the vice-captain's expression, "I'm _fine_ Oishi! It's just a cough."

He slid to the middle of the backseat and patted the spot beside him. Oishi sat next to him and shut the door. Fuji went around the car and took the seat on the other side of the acrobat, pulling the door closed gently. The blue-eyed _tensai_ turned his attention to Ryoma's father and spoke, "Echizen-_san_, thank you for allowing us to stay for the night."

Nanjirou grinned, thinking nothing of Fuji's words, "No problem!"

Ryoma, however, caught the unspoken words of Fuji Shusuke and shuddered at the icy undertone, _"My best friend's sick, and he needs to be taken care of, so drive us to your house __**right now**!"_

He dangled the slightly-worse-for-the-wear magazine in front of his precious cat once again and demanded, "_Oyaji_, drive now."

**To be continued…  
**

* * *

Glossary of Terms:  
_-kun/-san_— formalities.  
_tensai_— Translates to "genius" or "prodigy."  
_nya/hoi_— nonsensical terms used by Eiji.  
_-senpai_— upperclassman.  
_Ochibi_— roughly means "kiddo."  
_Oyaji_— roughly translates to "old man."

Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Here's the next chapter. I believe it may be the longest one so far. I'm hoping to break the 10,000 word mark by the next chapter. Wish me luck!

* * *

_**Shattered Reality**  
Chapter Six  
by Wolfram003_

Eiji was still awake during the seemingly everlasting trip—traffic was terrible during lunch hour—to Ryoma's house, although everyone else in the car probably thought he was sleeping again. He _was_ leaning on Oishi's shoulder with his eyes closed, after all. However, he wasn't asleep; he was thinking.

He'd been _thinking_ all night, letting himself be wrapped up in the icy embrace of the rain that wiped away his tears with its gentle transparent fingers, and he _still_ didn't know what to do. What _should_ he do? If his father, whom he loved dearly, kicked his oldest sister, whom he also loved dearly, out of the house before trying to hit her—which backfired, Eiji silently added in his mind as his bruised cheek complained a bit—because she loved another girl, what would his father do to _him_ for loving another boy?

Eiji really didn't want to know. Just thinking of such a thing made him even more upset than he already was. Maybe everything would be alright. Maybe he was just overreacting.

He knew that everyone was worried about him, but he didn't know how to make them _not_ worried. As it was, _he_ was worried about himself. He really didn't know how to handle everything that had happened yesterday.

Maybe if he told Oishi everything—

No, that would just make his boyfriend worry more, and Oishi didn't need that.

Perhaps he could tell Fuji?

Eiji's felt his nose scrunch up in distaste. No, if he did that, someone would get hurt. Fuji was well-known for being overly protective, and the redhead didn't want anyone to start another fight.

_Ochibi_, then?

A small smile lifted his lips before vanishing almost as quickly as it came. Nah, _Ochibi_ wouldn't know how to handle the situation if he cried. _That_ had been proven earlier when the younger boy had found him. He really should thank the blasé child for letting him stay at his house; it was a very kind gesture.

His throat tickled, and he coughed harshly, pretending to keep sleeping even as he felt Oishi and Fuji's worried gazed land on him. Eiji fought back a frown. He didn't like feeling so disoriented and tired.

Oishi rubbed his back gently, and the redhead actually felt better until his boyfriend's hand came into contact with the bruise given to him by his sister. He couldn't stop himself from sucking in a sharp breath through his teeth and twitching slightly from the pain. He mentally reminded himself never to make his sister seriously angry like she had been yesterday; she hit _hard_.

Oishi stiffened, and his hand hovered above the bruise uncertainly. Eiji felt rather than saw his boyfriend and best friend exchange glances or worry, and he mentally cursed at himself for not being able to stand the pain. Seriously, he got bruises this bad whenever he landed strangely during tennis practice! They were everyday occurrences—albeit he had never had one directly on his spine before—, so why were _these_ bruises bothering him so much? Was it just because he hadn't caused them himself?

Yes, that was it.

Eiji suddenly felt like crying again, and he must have whimpered because he felt Oishi's strong arms wrap around his shoulders. Soft lips brushed his forehead again, and the redhead let out a shaky breath. That was right. Oishi was there to make him feel safe and loved even if his family didn't accept him. Oishi was there to protect him; the dark-haired boy wouldn't let anyone hurt him. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and felt the other boy start slightly.

"I didn't know you were awake, Eiji."

The acrobat didn't answer, preferring to shift so that he could hug his boyfriend tighter. He was feeling worse with each moment that passed, and his mind was starting to become a little fuzzy. His shoulders started to slump and belatedly he wondered if this was that feeling everyone spoke of having before fainting...?

He awoke quite a while later, if the lack of the sun in the sky was any clue to the time of day. Slowly he became aware of the fact that he was laying on something extraordinarily soft. He was curled on his side, staring with bleary blue eyes at a blurry—why was it so hard to focus?—fluff-ball of a creature only inches from his face. Was that _Ochibi_'s cat?

He thought about rolling over onto his other side to face away from the cat but found he didn't have the energy. A droplet of lukewarm water slid down his forehead from a damp washcloth and caught in the eyelashes of one of his half-open eyes. He found he was too tired to even brush it away, so he continued to lay like he had been since waking up. Distantly he heard bits and pieces of a hushed conversation, but in his present state, his mind couldn't make sense of them.

"...bad fever..."  
"...someone hit him..."  
"...rained last night when he..."  
"...worried..."

Eiji was just drifting off when a feminine voice entered the fray.

"How is he?"

There were footsteps after three other male voices replied with similar explanations, and Eiji found himself looking up at a young woman with long dark hair and warm dark eyes. She removed the damp washcloth from his forehead, frowning at its warmth. The young woman gently placed her own hand on the redhead's forehead, and her frown grew. She dunked the warm washcloth into the basin of cold water on the nightstand next to the bed and wrung it out. Slim hands replaced the cool rag on his forehead, and Eiji couldn't help but shiver as icy tendrils of liquid trailed down his too-hot face. The young woman jumped as she met his fever-glazed azure gaze, "Oh! You're awake!"

Eiji made an unintelligible sound before forcing himself to roll over onto his other side, feeling the damp rag slip from his forehead onto the pillow his head was resting on. She was nice and everything, but he was really tired. He didn't want to talk to her.

"You should really keep this on. You have a terrible fever," the cloth was placed on his forehead once again by that same slim hand, and Eiji was about to snap at the dark-haired girl for not leaving him alone when a familiar voice stopped him. "She's right, Eiji. We need to bring your fever down soon. It's too high."

It was Oishi. He sounded so tired. Eiji wondered what time it was and asked.

"It's 3:15 AM, Kikumaru-_senpai_," Ryoma answered, yawning softly.

The redhead nodded a bit, and the washcloth slid to cover his eyes. He made no move to change its location; the coolness felt good on his fever-burned eyes. He felt himself drifting off once again into the fuzzy haze of unconsciousness. It was quickly becoming a welcomed feeling in Eiji's mind.

The next time he awoke, it was bright outside—he could already tell that even though he hadn't bothered to open his eyes—, and he could hear everyone—well, _someone_ was also in the room he was occupying and was snoring— moving around the house. The scent of food wafted through the air and met his nose. The redhead hugged himself and fought back a wave of nausea. He quickly made a note to himself not to eat anything, not because it smelled bad but because his stomach just couldn't handle it.

He brought a hand up to his forehead and brushed away his crimson bangs that were stuck to his forehead with sweat. Eiji decided he was uncomfortably hot after a moment of lying still and wriggled out of the cocoon of blankets he had been engulfed in sometime during the night. He lay on his back, coughing slightly as he opened his blue eyes, squinting at the sudden barrage of light on his sense of sight. Why was everything so bright? What time was it?

Suddenly the door opened, and Fuji came in carrying a tray of dishes. Eiji felt his stomach drop further; Fuji—the person known to enjoy Inui's concoctions—had been the one cooking? As if sensing his horrified stare, Fuji turned to him as he set the tray on the nightstand beside the bed and said, "Don't worry, Eiji. I didn't cook. Echizen's cousin, Nanako-_san_, did. It's just a simple broth."

Eiji shook his head as his stomach churned, hoping his protective friend would understand his predicament. He let his gaze drop from Fuji's face to the other occupants—yes, occupants; only one of them seemed to snore when they were asleep—of the room. _Ochibi_ was resting on his stomach, face buried in his pillow—snoring, Eiji felt the need to add—with his arm sprawled across the his fluffy cat, Karupin. Oishi was laying on his back, eyes closed, seeming to worry even in his sleep which made Eiji feel slightly guilty for some reason. After all, in light of recent events, Oishi was probably worried about _him_.  
He was shaken from his thoughts as Fuji placed cleared his throat, spoon in hand. Eiji made a face; was spoon-feeding him really necessary? The smell of the soup, bland as it was, made his stomach churn one last time, and a green tinge graced his features. Fuji started and all but threw the spoon back in the bowl before hurriedly handing his friend a trashcan. For this, Eiji was thankful because in the next moment, he was violently ill.

Eiji decided that day that he never wanted to be sick again.

Both Ryoma and Oishi were awakened by his horrid retching. Ryoma sat up slowly, blinking many times and appearing generally dazed. Oishi's eyes snapped open, and he was by Eiji's side in an instant, holding back his sweat-dampened hair from his face.

"I'm sorry," Eiji apologized weakly into the trashcan.

Fuji just shook his head and said, "It's not your fault. I just thought you might want to try to eat something. Apparently, you're not quite up to it yet even though your fever has gone down."

The honey-haired _tensai_ crossed the room and knelt next to his own bag, unzipping it. He rummaged around in it for a while before retrieving a toothbrush and a small purple tube of toothpaste. He walked back over to the bed and held the items out to the redhead who glanced at him with questioning blue eyes, "Yours didn't make it into your bag before you left, so when I went to get my overnight stuff, I asked '_Neesan_ to take me to the store. You'll probably want to use these in a moment. I always forget, do you mind grape-flavored toothpaste?"

Eiji rolled his eyes at Fuji's tease. Of course he didn't mind grape toothpaste! The prodigy had seen his dental hygiene collection before! Grape was a standard flavor (so were strawberry, cinnamon, mint, orange, and cherry). He reached out and took the offered items with a shy genuine smile, "Thanks, Fujiko."

He was suddenly aware that Oishi was holding a glass of water for him. When he glanced up into sleepy green eyes with a puzzled expression, Oishi shrugged slightly and explained, "I thought it might help."

Eiji gave another shy smile and took the glass from him, "Thank you, _nya_."

"_Mada mada dane_," was all that Ryoma contributed to the conversation before face-planting into this pillow, asleep before his head met the soft object.

The redhead fought back a fond grin and began to brush his teeth.

**To be continued...

* * *

**

Glossary of Terms:  
_Ochibi_— roughly translates to "Kiddo" or "Baby."  
_-senpai_— upperclassman.  
_-san_— formality; term of respect.  
_tensai_— roughly "genius" or "prodigy."  
_'Neesan_— "Older sis."  
_nya_— Nonsensical term used by Eiji, similar to a noise made by a cat.  
_Mada mada dane_— Ryoma's favorite saying; roughly translates to "Not yet" or "You have a long way to go."

--_Wolfram003_--


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** The long awaited appearance of other characters! I've officially broken the 10,000 word mark. This chapter's even a bit longer than the last. Yay!

**Inspiration**: Fueled by spicy beef ramen noodles, X Japan, T.M. Revolution, Siam Shade, and hide.

* * *

**_Shattered Reality_**_  
Chapter Seven  
by Wolfram003_

Where had everyone been yesterday? The Seigaku tennis club had been missing nearly half of its regulars during afternoon practice, and Tezuka-_buchou_ had been irritated to say the least. He had had Inui drill everyone—complete with the threat of the latest Inui juice—to the point of collapsing from exhaustion. Momoshiro Takeshi knew for a fact that Oishi-_senpai_ and Fuji-_senpai_ had been at morning practice yesterday, so why hadn't they been there that afternoon to share the team's suffering?

Echizen and Kikumaru-_senpai_ had been gone too. It was unusual for the redhead to be gone; he was rarely sick, after all. Echizen probably hadn't even come to school; in fact—Momo fondly rolled his violet eyes heavenward—he had probably slept at home all day.

So, it was his duty as Echizen's _senpai_ to bring him his work that he had missed—he had even gone and specifically asked the teacher for it! He would have taken it to the younger boy yesterday, but he had been too tired to do so. Inui-_senpai_ was cruel, so cruel! However, now he was rested and rejuvenated—it _was_ nearly four o'clock in the afternoon—, so he would fulfill his duty on this lovely Sunday instead.

At least, Momo reluctantly admitted to himself, that was his excuse for coming to see Echizen this time. He gently pressed down on the handle brakes and let his bike slow to a stop. He really just wanted to see the snarky(1) boy.

He hopped off his bicycle, walked it just inside the gate, and leaned it against the fence before walking up to the door to the first-year's house. He knocked lightly and heard lightly padded footsteps before Echizen's cousin slid the door open. He held up his hand in greeting, smiling, "Hi, Nanako-_san_."

"Oh! Hello, Momoshiro-_san_. Please come in. Ryoma-_san_ is up in his room."

"Ah, thanks," Momo said as he stepped inside and toed off his shoes. Nanako nodded and left to finish what she had been working on. The violet-eyed tennis player padded up the stairs quickly and slid open his friend's door, "Oi, Echizen!"

His loud arrival was quickly met by one disapproving stare, one somewhat strained smile, and one downright glare from over a game of cards.

"Hush, Momo. Echizen's sleeping," Oishi scolded.

"Yes, please be quiet. We wouldn't want to interrupt someone's nap, now would we, Momo?" Fuji's strained smile took on a deadly edge, and Momo turned to look at the last—snoring, Momo added mentally—occupant of the room in disbelief.

Echizen really _was_ asleep at four o'clock in the afternoon! Momo turned back to the group of older boys and frowned as he noticed the bruise on his glaring, red-haired _senpai_'s cheek. He promptly walked closer to the group and sat down, gesturing at the cards, "Can I play?"

Fuji and Oishi said he could while Eiji muttered something to the effect of, "Only if you don't wake up _Ochibi_." Momo chose to ignore the comment; he was sure Kikumaru-_senpai_ had a reason for being so disgruntled. That bruise on his cheek was highly suspicious.

About halfway through the newest hand of cards, Momo asked, "So where was everyone yesterday? Tezuka-_buchou_ made Inui-_senpai_ work us nearly to death. It was _not_ cool, not cool at all."

"_H-hoi_, I'm going to lay down for a bit. I'm not feeling so well, _nya_," Eiji announced suddenly and let his cards fall to the ground as he stood up and walked over to Echizen's bed. The redhead climbed into it and promptly pulled the blankets over his head.

Oishi watched him with an expression of worry as Fuji opened his eyes and glared at Momo. The violet-eyed boy sweated nervously as he met his _senpai_'s icy eyes, "Did I say something wrong?"

"_Nya_, I'm just not feeling well, Momo-_chan_," Eiji's muffled voice explained.

Fuji, however, nodded slightly, still watching him with that unnerving cerulean stare. Oishi took the awkward silence that followed to try to diffuse the situation. He grabbed both Momo and Fuji by the wrists and dragged them from the room, sliding the door closed as he went.

Momo finally couldn't hold his curiosity in anymore and asked, "What happened to Kikumaru-_senpai_?"

Oishi and Fuji shared a look before Oishi sighed somewhat angrily, "Someone hit him."

"So he got into a fight? That's not good, not good at all," Momo muttered under his breath, rubbing his chin and attempting to ignore Fuji's continuous stare. Then Fuji spoke up, and Momo found himself meeting the _tensai_'s gaze after all.

"No, it's not good at all. From what Echizen managed to get out of him before we even knew of the situation, Eiji was trying to break up a fight between his family members, and he was hit. Twice."

Violet eyes widened with shock as Oishi continued what Fuji had been telling him.

"He ran away, Momo. Echizen found him yesterday morning crying in an alley which, as much as I hate to admit it, was a _really_ stupid place to stay overnight. Who knows what could have happened to him!" Oishi put a hand to his forehead, and Fuji continued after placing a comforting hand on the vice-captain's shoulder.

"Eiji had a fever when Echizen found him, so Echizen sent Oishi a text message and stayed with Eiji until he got it. Apparently his phone didn't have much of a charge. Echizen knows to charge his phone now," Fuji added dryly, blue eyes glinting.

Momo gave a hesitant laugh, unsure of whether Fuji's statement was meant to be a joke or not. Either way he pitied Ryoma; the poor boy _had_ to have been threatened the whole time he was with Fuji, subtly or not.

"So _Ochibi_," a new voice snickered, "and Fuji-_kun_ walked _all_ the way over here to ask me to go pick up Oishi-_kun_ and Kikumaru-_kun_. Didn't you say that Oishi-_kun_ had a cell phone earlier? You could have just called on that."

Nanjirou Echizen eyed Fuji for a long moment before suddenly clutching his magazine to his chest dramatically, "At least that's what they _should_ have done. That boy of mine decided I wouldn't do anything unless he blackmailed me! He stole my magazine and let his cat play with it!"

Momo's eyes finally took noticed of the claw marks and ripped paper of the magazine. He fought back a snicker. He had the feeling that Fuji-_senpai_ was waiting for the perfect opportunity to blackmail _him_, and Momo didn't want to try his luck. This really _wasn't_ a laughing matter, no matter how amusing Echizen's dad could be.

The oldest Echizen's demeanor suddenly turned serious, and he frowned, "Then the kid passed out on the car ride. He scared everyone, though I'm fairly certain he doesn't remember much of that incident. Kikumaru-_kun_'s fever has just gone down enough so that he's somewhat lucid. He was a bit out-of-sorts for a while, nearly a day if you want to nitpick, but he seems to be doing better now. I'm letting him stay here until he's ready to go home, though I don't know when that will be. He seems really shaken up by what happened."

Momo frowned slightly, "Isn't the Kikumaru family really close-knit? What were they fighting over? Does anyone know?"

The door to Ryoma's room slid open at that moment to reveal the owner of the room. He looked at each one of them blandly as he slid the wooden panel closed behind him. Yawning, he said, "If _I_ can hear you, Kikumaru-_senpai_ definitely can."

Then he went back into his room where he could be heard flopping back onto the spare futon he had been laying on. The four stood in stunned silence. Had they really been loud enough to wake Ryoma Echizen from his dead sleep?

Apparently they had.

Fuji and Oishi shared a look before ushering Nanjirou and Momo down the stairs, through the main room, and into the kitchen. They sat at the table in silence for a moment before Oishi spoke up, "Eiji's oldest sister made an announcement over dinner that didn't go over too well with their father. Eiji had wanted to tell his family something similar—"

"You mean he wanted to tell them that he liked another guy, right? I'm surprised there was someone who didn't know." Momo stated with a raised eyebrow. His purple eyes widened in disbelief at the startled expressions on the older men's faces. He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "I mean—did you guys seriously not know that? Inui-_senpai_'s been going on about that for a while now..."

Oishi blushed and muttered a hushed, "I know," that was overlooked by the rest of the table.

Fuji seemed frozen for a moment before he pushed back his chair from the table and stood, righteous fury burning in his open blue eyes, "They fought over _that_! How could they do that to Eiji! I _know_ his sisters and his mom know about that! How could his sister and dad—"

Something seemed to click in everyone's thoughts at the same time. Fuji flopped back into his chair and ran a hand through his hair, sighing in frustration, and Oishi's hands fisted in anger. Nanjirou and Momo's attitudes were unusually subdued as they watched the reactions of the two people across the table from them.

"Echizen told me that Eiji said he 'got caught in the middle' when 'they' were fighting over 'such a stupid thing.' So he was hit when he tried to break up the fight between his sister and father?" Fuji asked quietly.

Momo chose that time to ask, "But if he was in the middle of the fight, why does he only have one bruise?"

"If he was in the middle and he has a bruise on his face, then there must be one somewhere on his back," Nanjirou rubbed his chin in thought.

"That must have been what he reacted to in the car," Oishi bit his lip as he explained, emerald eyes clouded with worry. "He coughed fairly hard, so I rubbed his back to see if it would help him. I must have touched his injury because he gasped."

"He must have a terrible bruise; he doesn't usually react to them like that," Fuji added pensively. "This one must be particularly bad because I know for a fact that he's usually covered in scrapes and bruises from the stunts he pulls during tennis practice. He never complains about those, but I distinctly remember him whimpering in the car."

Fuji stood from his chair again. "I'm going to his house to get the whole story from someone. I want to know what happened. Don't let him know where I went." He gave a slight, genuine smile to Nanjirou, "Thank you for letting Eiji stay here, Echizen-_san_. I'll be back soon."

The brown-haired man blinked and said it was no problem at all. He also added that they were all welcome to stay until the situation blew over, but they would still have to go to school and let their parents know where they were. Fuji nodded and thanked him again before leaving, pausing only long enough to slip on his tennis shoes.

Oishi left the room and headed upstairs shortly after the _tensai_'s departure to try to cheer up the other half of the Golden Pair. The absence of Eiji's smile was very noticeable.

Momo gave a low whistle and shared a glance of awe with Ryoma's father, "Fuji-_senpai_'s pissed."

**To be continued...

* * *

**

Notes:  
(1) _snarky_: There is no better word, in my honest opinion, to describe Ryoma Echizen.

Glossary of Terms:  
_-buchou_— "captain".  
_-senpai_— upperclassman.  
_-san/-kun_— formalities; terms of respect.  
_Ochibi_— roughly translates to "Kiddo" or "Baby."  
_Hoi/Nya_— Nonsensical term used by Eiji, similar to a noise made by a cat.  
_-chan_— term of endearment.  
_tensai_—roughly "genius" or "prodigy."

--_Wolfram003_--


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**: Enter the InuKai-ness. The chapters keep getting longer. This one's nearly 3,000 words.

* * *

**_Shattered Reality_**_  
Chapter Eight  
by Wolfram003_

Kaidoh Kaoru jogged along the sidewalk, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He stopped for a second and glanced over his shoulder. The second-year restrained himself from tapping his foot in impatience as Inui Sadaharu finally caught up to him. Really, he thought as he hissed under his breath, if Inui-_senpai_ was _that_ determined to help him with his training, he could at least _try_ to keep up!

The dark-haired youth tugged off his bandana and wiped the sweat from his forehead once again. The data collector walked up next to him, grinning, "Great job, Kaidoh. I think that's enough for today though. It wouldn't be good if you exceeded your limit."

Kaidoh scowled. Hissing, he rolled his eyes. In other words, Inui-_senpai_ was at _his_ limit. Really, why did the taller boy even bother to follow him if he knew the difference in their stamina? Not that he minded too terribly much. However, the moment the annoyed teen realized his thought, it was violently shoved, tied up, and left for dead in the back of his mind.

If Inui-_senpai_ got wind of his affection, there was no telling what would happen. He'd seen the third-year gather data on all of the tennis club's members and promptly hand it over to Fuji before. It had all been some grand attempt at matchmaking the Golden Pair, and to the best of his knowledge, their scheme hadn't even _worked_. Oishi-_senpai_ and Kikumaru-_senpai_ had been their usual selves, oblivious to their feelings for each other which, Kaidoh felt the need to add, were _quite_ obvious to the rest of the team—not that there was anything wrong with that, of course.

"Fshuu..." he breathed in annoyance as he and Inui walked around the corner. He quickly changed his train of thought before it went somewhere uncomfortable. Monday's practice was going to be interesting, if what Inui-_senpai_ had bought at that convenience store earlier had anything to do with it. Kaidoh shuddered as he remembered what the taller boy had bought. He was _not_ going to drink any juice made by Inui Sadaharu _ever_ again; there was _no possible way_ those ingredients were remotely healthy when put together.

He turned around, walking backwards as they neared the corner and opened his mouth to tell his _senpai_ just that. Such an action was a stupid mistake that he was never going to make again, he decided as he was roughly shoved from behind into his _senpai_. Somehow, he and the data collector wound up in a pile of limbs, lips pressed together in what Kaidoh supposed could be called a kiss. He blushed furiously, stood up, and turned to face the idiot who pushed him with anger burning in his dark eyes (1); that wasn't what he wanted his first kiss to be like! He completely missed the pleased grin that crossed the data collector's features and the mutter of, "_Ii data_."

"Watch where you're—Fuji-_senpai_?" Kaidoh's eyes widened at the expression of the older boy, who was also on the ground. The brown-haired boy shook his head as he stood up and dusted himself off. Fuji's sapphire eyes glinted angrily as he quickly apologized, though he didn't sound sincere in the slightest, to his teammates, "Sorry Kaidoh, Inui. I'm in a bit of a rush."

"Ah," Kaidoh said as he fought the urge to step back from the older boy. Fuji-_senpai_ was a bit frightening when he was oh-so-obviously angry. Something _had_ to be wrong to make the blue-eyed boy this frightfully furious. Hesitantly, he clenched his bandana in his fist and asked, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Fuji blinked in surprise, and Kaidoh could hear Inui-_senpai_ writing in that green data book of his again. Kaidoh hissed—someday, he would see the inside of that notebook, and then he would promptly take it away; Inui-_senpai_ was always writing in it around him, so Kaidoh believed he had a right to read it—and fought the urge to roll his eyes. He shouldn't have even asked.

Then his honey-haired _senpai_ smiled—not his usual smile, but one that made shivers run down Kaidoh's spine—and told his that yes, there was a way he could help. He explained that he needed to have a talk with Kikumaru-_senpai_'s family. He didn't state _why_ he needed to do such a thing, just that he needed someone to back him up. Fuji-_senpai_ raised a slim eyebrow at the hissing youth's unasked question of, 'Why?' that was clearly written all over his features.

"I'm not threatening enough," Fuji explained. Kaidoh begged to differ but didn't dare to say so. The brown-haired _tensai_ turned and gestured for both of his teammates to follow before walking off toward Kikumaru's house which was just down the street.

Inui stopped scribbling in his notebook and glanced at Kaidoh, who was still blushing from the earlier accidental kiss. He adjusted his glasses and stated, "Probability that something unfavorable has happened to Kikumaru, 98 percent. Probability of Fuji becoming violent with someone in Kikumaru's family, 83 percent. I highly suggest we follow him to find out what's going on."

Kaidoh found himself agreeing. Although Kikumaru-_senpai_ could be annoying at times, he was a good person. He also reminded the hissing boy of a cat, so he was fairly fond of the redhead, even if he didn't show it. If something bad had happened to the acrobat, Kaidoh wanted to know.

He found himself jogging to catch up with the sprinting _tensai_. Inui lagged behind, but not by much; there was _ii data_ on the line, after all. Kaidoh found himself tying his bandana around his head again and sighing, "Fshuu."

He could already tell this was going to be a long week.

Soon the trio was standing outside the gate to the Kikumaru household. Fuji didn't even hesitate as he entered the property. Kaidoh watched with raised eyebrows as the shorter boy stormed up to the door of the two-story house and knocked loudly on it, like Kikumaru Eiji was prone to doing.

The door was quickly opened by a relieved-looking brown-haired boy, "Ei—Oh, it's just you, Fuji-_kun_." The eldest male child of the Kikumaru household then noticed Fuji's furious expression and promptly took a step back. "I-is there something I can help you with, Fuji-_kun_? Eiji's not here right now."

"Actually, there is, Hiroshi-_san_ (2)," Fuji was clearly delighted with the way the older boy paled as he caught sight of the abnormally tall (3) Inui and Kaidoh. His cerulean eyes took on a distinctly deadly glint, "Could you possibly explain to me why Eiji was found crying in an alley by our youngest teammate? Also, could you tell me just _what_ caused him to run away from home in the first place? I have my suspicions, but I'd like to hear everything from someone that was actually there."

Absolute silence met his questions. Kaidoh's eyes widened, and Inui nearly dropped his notebook. This was shocking.

Kikumaru Hiroshi's mouth moved silently for many moments before Fuji became fed up with the silence. He glared at the eldest son of the Kikumaru family and whispered dangerously, "Who did it? Who hit him? Tell me!"

Inui _did_ drop his notebook after Fuji's demands reached his ears. He scrambled to pick it up as Kaidoh hissed. This situation was worse than even Inui-_senpai_'s data could have predicted.

Hiroshi shook for a moment before grabbing Fuji by the front of his shirt and dragging him inside to escape the curious stares of the passersby. Kaidoh and his data-collecting teammate glanced at each other before following the two inside the house. Kaidoh promptly shut the door behind him, cutting off everyone's view of the scene. People were so nosy, sometimes.

The brown-haired son of the Kikumaru family ran a hand through his short, straight locks, sighing in frustration. "Fuji-_kun_, I'm the only one here right now. '_Tousan_ and '_Kaasan_ are at work. Everyone else is staying somewhere else at the moment. What happened over the past few days really shook everyone up, but no one else ran away like Eiji. Of course, no one else was hurt, either."

Hiroshi bowed his head and continued, "'_Kaasan_ wasn't here when everything happened. She came home nearly half an hour later while everyone—except for Eiji; he'd already gone up to his room—was still yelling at each other. I still can't believe this happened to _us_. I mean, our family normally gets along so well together."

Fuji nodded and took a seat on the couch across from him. Kaidoh stood at the edge of the room, feeling somewhat awkward. He was furious that someone had actually hurt Kikumaru-_senpai_ of all people, but he felt that he shouldn't even _know_ about such a thing. This was a very private family matter. Next to him, Inui-_senpai_ stood surprisingly still, not even writing in his data book. That in itself was as unusual as the discovery that Kikumaru Eiji had run away from home.

"Everything started right after dinner. '_Kaasan_ was working late, so she wasn't there for '_Neesan_'s announcement. All Arashi (4) said was that she was dating another girl. It wasn't bad or anything, but '_Tousan_ totally flipped out. He started yelling at her, and '_Neesan_ yelled back just as loud. He told her to leave and find somewhere else to live."

The Seigaku trio heard a distinct sniffle as the older boy rubbed at his eyes, "Arashi did, by the way. She wanted to say goodbye to _otouto_ the next morning and was the first one to notice that Eiji was gone. She was really upset; she'd wanted to apologize and make sure he was okay. She didn't mean to hit _him_, and she told me that she'd punched _very_ hard because she was so angry. It must have hurt a lot."

Kaidoh watched as Seigaku's _tensai_ clenched his fist, knuckles turning white, "_How_ did Eiji get hit in the first place?"

Hiroshi looked up, startled, "Oh, I'm sorry. I kind of went off on that, didn't I?"

Fuji stared at him blandly, waiting for him to continue.

"Eiji must have been devastated by '_Tousan_'s reaction to Arashi's news, but I don't understand why. He was shaking the whole time they were fighting, and I'm pretty sure he was close to having a full-blown panic attack when '_Tousan_ told her to get out of the house. They were just about to hit each other, and I think he noticed that the rest of us—Yohji, Rei, and I (5)—weren't going to doing anything to stop them because we were too scared. So, he did..."

Fuji frowned as Hiroshi trailed off into silence again, but this time, he made no remark to get the older boy to continue.

The brown-haired Kikumaru let out a shaky breath. Quietly, he spoke again, "He went and got between them, yelling for them to stop, but I guess they didn't notice him until it was too late. '_Tousan_ slapped him across the face, and '_Neesan_ punched him in the back. He was really upset with everyone; he ran upstairs and locked himself in his room. He was still here when '_Kaasan_ came home though. I heard him tell her to go away. I don't know _when_ he left, but I guess I can understand _why_ he did."

"He left because he was going to tell everyone the same news as Arashi-_san_ did."

Fuji's statement startled the brown-haired boy, and Hiroshi blinked, "What do you mean by that, Fuji-_kun_?"

Inui chose that time to speak up, stepping forward and adjusting his glasses, "What Fuji means is that there is a 97 percent probability that Kikumaru Eiji is attracted to another male." He locked gazes with Fuji and asked, "Correct?"

Fuji shook his head, "No, there is no probability any longer, Inui. I am 100 percent certain—as of this morning—that Eiji is in love with another boy that returns his feelings just as much. I'm also fairly sure that they are now romantically involved."

Kaidoh was just as surprised as his data-collecting _senpai_. When had that happened? He vaguely wondered if they would be open with their relationship. If they were—which was fairly likely, as the relationship involved on Kikumaru Eiji—, they would surely draw a lot of attention—especially the unwanted kind.

Kaidoh reached back to tighten his green and white bandana. If that happened and he was near, he would protect them if need be; Kaidoh silently declared this to himself. There were a lot of unreasonable people out there, and technically, if he cared to admit it to himself, he was secretly in the same boat as the Golden Pair. It just wouldn't be right to ignore them if they were in trouble, so he would be there to help, if just to provide intimidation tactics.

He blinked as he realized that was why Fuji-_senpai_ had told him and Inui-_senpai_ to come along. He could understand that reasoning. Fuji-_senpai_ _was_ quite a bit shorter than them.

"E-Eiji's gay?" Hiroshi was stunned. He blinked several times as if to absorb the information he'd just learned. He shook his head adamantly when Fuji asked if there was anything wrong with that, saying, "I just didn't realize that. Hell, I never even thought about that. Though that _does_ explain why he never went along with any of Rei's attempts at matchmaking..."

There was a slight, surprisingly comfortable pause before Hiroshi asked, "Is he happy?"

Fuji nodded, "Yes."

"He's with Oishi-_kun_, isn't he?"

Fuji nodded again.

Hiroshi smiled, "I'm glad. Oishi-_kun_'s a good person. He'll never hurt Eiji. By the way, how _is_ my _otouto_?"

"Eiji stayed outside in the rain overnight, so he's been quite ill. He still has a fever. He's getting better though. We're all staying at our teammate's house until everything settles down, so Eiji _is_ safe and being taken care of," Fuji supplied, closing his eyes.

The blue-eyed _tensai_ didn't seem to have a grudge with the older boy, though Kaidoh was almost certain that Kikumaru-_senpai_'s father and oldest sister would also be going through this same interrogation once Fuji caught them at home. The conversation with Kikumaru-_san_ was bound to get ugly, if his reaction to his son's news was anything like his reaction to his daughter's news. Kaidoh hissed; there really _were_ so many unreasonable people in the world.

"I see. I'll let '_Kaasan_ know that," Hiroshi said as he stood up and stretched, smiling. "Could you wait here for a moment? I want you to take a few things to him," he explained.

Fuji nodded as the older boy ran upstairs. The sounds of slamming doors and drawers drifted to the visitors, and Kaidoh wondered how much they were going to have to carry to wherever Fuji-_senpai_ and the others were staying.

Hiroshi came down only a few moments later with a backpack filled with items that Kaidoh decided he wouldn't even guess at. The overstuffed bag was handed to Fuji who promptly handed it to Inui after noticing its weight. Inui simply handed it to Kaidoh and said that it was a good form of weight training. The snake-shot user slid the straps of the bag over his arms, rolling his eyes and replying with a simply, "Fshuu."

Really, Fuji-_senpai_ and Inui-_senpai_ were both wimps.

The trio was then ushered out of the house with the explanation that Hiroshi had to cook dinner for everyone. When the door shut, Fuji simply asked the two tagalongs, "Are you two also staying at Echizen's? He has his own tennis court."

Kaidoh shrugged. He didn't really care either way, but he started as Seigaku's data collector answered for both of them, glasses glinting in the sunlight. "We'll stay. Probability that it will be an interesting experience, 100 percent."

Fuji nodded and began walking back to Echizen's house. Kaidoh and Inui followed him. The dark-eyed boy adjusted the straps to the bag resting against his back and let out a soft, "Fshuu." He found his mind wandering back to earlier in the day when he had accidentally kissed—it had been his first kiss, damn it—his _senpai_. He fought back a blush.

Suddenly, he heard the object of his affection clear his throat to get his attention. He turned to see what Inui Sadaharu wanted and found a pair of lips being pressed against his own. The data collector pulled back and grinned at the dark blush that had stained Kaidoh's features. "Kaidoh Kaoru, is there any probability that you'd be willing to go on a date?"

Kaidoh found himself unable to give a suitable spoken reply. Instead, he grabbed the front of his _senpai_'s shirt and pulled him down for another kiss. That was answer enough, wasn't it?

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard a faint click, saw a flash of a camera, and _felt_ the chill of Fuji's best I've-got-blackmail-on-you-and-plenty-of-entertainment-for-me smile.

And for some reason, he found that he didn't care one bit.

**To be continued...

* * *

**

Notes:

(1) _dark eyes_: I can't find any clear official pictures of Kaidoh's eyes. What _is_ his eye color?

(2, 4-5) _Hiroshi-_san: Do the members of the Kikumaru family have names (aside from Eiji, of course)? I couldn't find any, so I made up some:

_Eldest brother_: Hiroshi; second oldest of the siblings.  
_Middle brother_: Yohji; third oldest of the siblings.  
_Youngest brother_: Eiji; youngest of the siblings.  
_Oldest sister_: Arashi; oldest of the siblings.  
_Youngest sister_: Rei; fourth oldest sibling.  
_Mother_: Tsukiko  
_Father_: Hajime

I also realize that Eiji's grandparents live with him (or so most of the information I've found says), but I'm going to pretend their vacationing or something.

(3) _... abnormally tall_: I don't know their actual heights, but Inui and Kaidoh are definitely abnormally tall compared to the rest of the group, with the possible exceptions of Kawamura, Tezuka, and Momo.

Glossary of Terms:  
-_senpai_— upperclassman.  
_Ii data_— "Good data." Inui says this quite a bit.  
_tensai_— literally "genius" or "prodigy."  
-_kun_/-_san_— formalities; show levels of respect.  
'_Tousan_— dad.  
'_Kaasan_— mom.  
'_Neesan_— older sister.  
_otouto_— younger brother.

--_Wolfram003_--  
(Please review! Reviews keep me writing!)


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N**: This chapter is a little... slow. It's also fairly short and doesn't make much sense as its setting up future plot development. I was working through a huge case of writer's block and having family problems of my own. Sorry if someone's out of character. Also, I've been told that I've made Fuji twice as scary than he actually is in the series. I apologize for doing so. I just write the characters how I perceive them, so I'm sorry if my opinions are different than someone else's. That's all I have to say this time.

**A note that has nothing to do with this story**: I made myself a new LJ avatar. It's Shinji and Kamio! I'm very proud of it. It turned out a lot better than I thought it would. Also, I have decided that the song "JUICE" from Inui's "Emc2" album is hilarious. Poor Kaidoh.

* * *

**_Shattered Reality_**_  
Chapter Nine  
by Wolfram003_

Eiji was _not_ happy. He was trying to make this known to everyone in his general vicinity—especially his best friend—by brooding. He _not_ pleased with Fuji, not at all.

He continued to glare (read: pout) at the back of the _tensai_'s head accusingly, as he had been doing for the past hour. Fuji had _lied_ to him. The honey-haired boy had told Eiji that he had run into Hiroshi when he had gone out for a walk, and the redhead's brother had given him a bag of stuff to bring to him.

However, there were a few problems with what Fuji had told him. First off, _Ochibi_ didn't live anywhere _near_ him, so Fuji would have had to walk a long way out of the way to even be anywhere near his house! Second, why would Hiroshi be carrying around a bag to give to him when his brother didn't even know where he was? Third... Well, Eiji hadn't really noticed anything else, but he blamed that on the constant fever-hazed state of his mind.

The redhead fought the urge to throw something at the back of his smiling friend's head since the honey-haired boy wasn't even paying attention to his attempts to get his irritation across. There had been reasons he hadn't told anyone what happened! He knew how protective Fuji was, and he didn't want anyone to fight! Fighting over something _stupid_ was what caused this whole mess in the first place!

So, as _Ochibi_ and Fuji—Eiji had been genuinely surprised when his best friend had brought Inui and Kaidoh back with him earlier—sat across from each other playing a game of cards, the irritated acrobat of the Seigaku tennis club sat on Ryoma's bed sorting through the stuff Hiroshi had sent him, still occasionally trying to get Fuji to notice him. He sighed and wondered when Oishi would be back. Echizen-_san_ had volunteered to drive everyone who needed things to stay overnight—this group consisted of Oishi, Kaidoh, Momo, and Inui—to their houses since he had to go shopping so everyone could have dinner anyway.

They hadn't been gone that long, and it would be a while before they came back.

Eiji became bored with the task of looking through his bag. Surprisingly, there wasn't much in there, just a few shirts, a few pairs of pants, his school uniform, his toothbrush and toothpaste, and a hairbrush. He honestly had no idea _why_ the bag was so heavy.

Pushing aside the pack, he turned his attention to his friends again. As he slid to the floor to join the others, he decided that he could forgive the blue-eyed _tensai_. Fuji was just looking out for him, after all.

He felt something soft brush up against his legs and looked down to see Ryoma's cat, Karupin, purring and watching him with clear blue eyes. A smile tugged at the left corner of his mouth—it _hurt_ to give a full smile; he had tried to explain this to Oishi earlier, but he didn't think he had gotten the point across quite yet—as he gently stroked the feline's soft fur. Blue eyes sparkling, Eiji leaned forward, _nya_-ed quietly at the cat, and laughed with delight when it _nya_-ed back.

He was vaguely aware that Fuji and Ryoma had paused their game of cards to watch him as he picked up the furry creature and cradled it to his chest. He had always wanted a cat of his own, but he was always too busy—school and tennis took up most of his time—to take care of one. Karupin _nya_-ed again, and Eiji fought back the urge to _nya_ back at the fluffy creature again.

Ryoma, dear _Ochibi_ that he was, was looking faintly amused by the interaction between his _senpai_ and his beloved cat. Eiji looked up and squinted as a camera's flash assaulted his sharp eyes. He blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear his vision before whining, "_Hoi_, why are you taking pictures, Fujiko(1)? Why'd you bring that camera, _nya_?"

Fuji smiled and asked, "_Saa_..."

Eiji watched his youngest teammate shiver as if he heard the _tensai_'s unspoken words of, "_Of course I brought a camera! There are going to be a lot of blackmail opportunities with everyone staying in the same house! I'd be crazy _not_ to bring a camera._"

The red-haired acrobat thought Ryoma believed otherwise, judging from his reaction. Eiji couldn't care less. He always had fun looking at the pictures his best friend took. They were almost always amusing in some way or another. Plus, because of Fuji, he had some nice pictures of Oishi and him together. That was good, right?

He thought it was.

Sometime while he had been thinking, the other two occupants of the room had gone back to playing their game. Fuji's smile seemed a little tighter than usual, as if he was slightly frustrated when Ryoma placed his last card in the pile, smirked, and said, "_Mada mada dane_, Fuji-_senpai_."

In an effort to eliminate the tension building in the room, Eiji stood up suddenly and dug through his original bag. He pulled out his tennis racket and grinned, albeit a bit lopsidedly, "_Hoi_! Play a game with me, _Ochibi_!"

The first-year watched him with a serious glint in his amber eyes before finally nodding, and they headed out to the Echizen family's private court.

Thirty minutes later, Eiji was sitting on the ground wincing at the horrible pain the bruise on his back was causing him. He should have known that he couldn't do a flip with such an injury. The bruise sent sharp, needlelike pains through his spine each time he moved, so of course it would hurt when he tried to bend in odd ways. That made sense, right?

Fuji was at his side, blue eyes open and a frown tugging at his lips, the moment he sat down in frustration. Eiji thought about protesting as that back of his shirt was lifted but decided not to; someone would see the bruise sooner or later. He heard Fuji's sharp intake of air and instantly tried to laugh off the worry he suddenly felt; _he_ hadn't even seen his own back yet, so all he knew about it was that it _hurt_.

"Eiji, this looks _terrible_. Doesn't it hurt?" Fuji's voice was laced with shock. The red-haired acrobat thought about lying, but he found himself wincing as the _tensai_'s fingers brushed against his injury. He nodded and agreed quickly, trying not to flinch as pain assaulted his senses, "I-it does. It really hurts a lot. Please stop touching it, Fujiko."

Fuji jerked his hand back, apologizing profusely. Eiji forced a grin and stood up, pulling the back of his shirt down to cover the offending injury. Changing the subject quickly, the redhead turned to Ryoma, "_Ochibi_! When do you think everyone will be back?"

Ryoma shrugged.

Eiji ignored the younger boy's uncaring attitude and announced, "We should all play a game when everyone gets back! That sounds like fun, _nya_?"

He pretended to miss the look that passed between his teammates.

"That does sound fun, Eiji," Fuji finally commented, smiling, "but the question is: what game should we play?"

Eiji shrugged. He hadn't really thought that far ahead yet. He glanced at Ryoma who also shrugged in response to Fuji's question. "You can choose, Fuji-_senpai_," the youngest regular of Seigaku's tennis club offered.

Both Kikumaru Eiji and Echizen Ryoma felt a sudden wave of fear envelop them when Fuji Shuusuke smiled and simply said, "Okay."

**To be continued...

* * *

**

Notes:  
(1) _Fujiko_: I _think_ I heard Eiji call Fuji this in one of the episodes. If he didn't, I can still see Eiji using this name for him.

Glossary of Terms:  
_tensai_— "genius" or "prodigy."  
-_san_— formality; term of respect.  
_nya/hoi_— nonsensical terms used by Eiji.  
_Ochibi_— roughly "kiddo." I've also seen it translated as "our baby" in the fansubs of the anime.  
_Saa..._— Fuji says this quite a bit. I think it means something like, "Who knows?"  
-_senpai_— upperclassman.  
_Mada mada dane_— "Not yet" or "You still have a long way to go."

—_Wolfram003_—


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N**: This story was supposed to have been over by now, but I keep getting so many ideas and keep adding onto it. It's so long... Thank you guys for all the wonderful reviews so far. They keep me writing.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Shattered Reality**  
Chapter Ten  
by Wolfram003_

Oishi resisted the urge to put a hand to his forehead in a gesture of resignation. His day, strange as it had already been, had become even stranger when Echizen-_san_ had returned everyone to his house. Apparently his three teammates—Echizen, Eiji, and Fuji—had decided that it would be fun to play a game. Normally, he would have been fine with such a decision, but his boyfriend and youngest teammate had let _Fuji_ choose the aforementioned game.

So now they were all sitting in a circle in Echizen Ryoma's suddenly too-small room, eyeing each other warily while playing _Truth or Dare_, thanks to Fuji's choice. As they had only been playing for a few minutes, nothing too terrible had happened yet—yet being the word that stood out most in Oishi's mind. Something was bound to happen, or Fuji wouldn't have picked this particular game. He turned his attention back to his teammates after a shrill cry of disbelief made him cringe involuntarily.

"You want me to do _what_! That's not right! It's just not right! It's _Mamushi_!"

Ah, it had been Momoshiro. Somehow that didn't surprise him. The comical expression of horror plastered across Kaidoh's face did, however.

Oishi shot a quizzical glance at his boyfriend who was sitting beside him. Eiji was stifling a giggle to the best of his ability, but he quickly noticed the dark-haired boy's look. The redhead leaned over and whispered an explanation, "Fujiko dared Momo to kiss Kaidoh."

The vice-captain grinned and looked around at his teammates reactions as Kaidoh gripped the front of his rival's shirt, briefly kissed him—he was not quick enough, however; Fuji's camera flashed with expert timing, capturing the image forever—, and shoved him away all in the same instant with a frustrated hiss. Eiji was clearly amused, and he didn't even bother to hide that fact. Seigaku's brown-haired _tensai_ held his camera close to him, as if daring anyone to try to take it away; Oishi was sure the moment-capturing device, at least the film inside, would survive to see the next morning somehow, even if it caused someone great pain later in the night. Inui's hand had frozen in midair from where he had been about to write something in his data book. Ryoma choked on his can of grape Ponta; Oishi vaguely took note of the jealousy that entered the youngest boy's amber eyes. Momo seemed to be in shock, violet eyes wide and staring straight ahead. Kaidoh just wiped his lips furiously before petting Echizen's cat—apparently the gruff second-year liked felines—again.

"Well, Kaidoh's technically the one who went through with the dare, so it should be his turn," Fuji stated with a somewhat sadistic smile. Oishi had the feeling that he was never going to be able to see the _tensai_ the same as he had in the past after this night. He was also leery of the prodigy's growing blackmail collection. Hopefully Fuji wouldn't use it.

Oishi mentally rolled his eyes at himself; _of course_ Fuji would use his blackmail! That was the whole reason he was gathering it in the first place. Oishi had the feeling that that did not bode well for the rest of the team.

Kaidoh rolled his eyes and tightened his bandana. Dark eyes scoured over the group as the snake-shot user assessed his targets. He hissed in boredom and asked, "Echizen, truth or dare?"

The youngest boy returned his upperclassman's glance with a look of boredom and replied without hesitation, "Dare."

Kaidoh was silent for a moment before he smirked and gestured to his rival who was still staring ahead at nothing, "Kiss him."

Oishi and the rest of the group laughed slightly as Echizen paled slightly. No one moved for a few seconds, but then Fuji lifted his camera, smiling. "Go on."

Ryoma's eye twitched slightly before he grabbed the front of his _senpai_'s shirt and pressed his lips to his violet-eyed teammate's. Momo blinked a few times before realizing that he was being kissed by the first-year. He then promptly deepened the kiss when Ryoma made no attempt to move away from him.

Eiji whistled and yelled, "Go, Momo-_chan_!"

Oishi stiffened when he noticed the door opening. Nanjirou peeked inside to say something but stopped as he noticed the scene. His mouth moved silently as he tried to say something, and his eyes widened. He promptly slid the door shut, and his footsteps echoed down the hall.

The vice-captain turned back to face his friends who were _still_ kissing. He shared a look with Inui who was scribbling in his data book. He then shrugged; Nanjirou could have walked in during a worse moment. In fact, Oishi was fairly sure that such a thing would happen sometime in the future. Hopefully Echizen-_san_ would learn to knock at some point.

He didn't seem to have a problem with the fact that they were both boys—Oishi believed the man was just startled at seeing his blasé son kissing someone—, so that was a point in Echizen-_san_'s favor. At least he didn't throw a fit about it like others Oishi knew of. He glanced in his boyfriend's direction.

Fuji had told him the story he had learned from Hiroshi-_san_ earlier in the day. Apparently Eiji's father—and possibly the redhead's other older brother, Yohji-_san_—was totally against any mention of a same-sex relationship. Oishi thought the man should at least try to understand his children.

Eiji didn't deserve to go through this. The outgoing half of the Golden Pair was used to everyone getting along with each other. His partner had once quietly admitted to him that he hated fighting, especially when the fight involved people he cared about. Oishi found that he agreed.

His emerald eyes gravitated toward his younger friends, and he found himself blushing, though not nearly as much as Kaidoh. Apparently Echizen and Momo liked each other. Beside him, Eiji was still cheering something to the effect of, "Way to go, _Ochibi_!"

Well, _this_ game was over. Echizen and Momo apparently didn't want to stop what they were doing to finish it. Oishi averted his green gaze and coughed politely, silently hoping that the two would hear him and stop what they were doing.

They didn't.

At least his teammates were fine with the idea of a relationship happening between two men. In fact, Oishi was fairly certain most everyone on the squad was now officially going out with another guy. He and Eiji were now an item. Inui and Kaidoh seemed to be awfully close. Momo and Echizen... well, he felt that was self-explanatory as his eyes drifted back to his teammates. Fuji seemed to look at Tezuka quite a bit, and he had caught their captain watching the _tensai_ with a fond—for Tezuka—expression several times.

He wasn't too sure about Kawamura(1). However, Oishi _was_ positive that the boy would be supportive of any relationship between any of his friends. He was just incredibly kind like that.

The emerald-eyed tennis player found that he was a bit leery of what Taka-_san_(2) might say when he was in burning mode. Whatever the normally calm boy said, he was sure it would be spouted in slaughtered English though. That's just the way that worked.

He was startled out of his thoughts when he felt a sudden weight against his shoulder. He looked down to see Eiji yawning. "_Hoi_, I know it's not that late, but I'm really tired, Oishi. We haven't even eaten yet, either."

Oishi smiled fondly, "Then go to sleep, Eiji. I'll wake you up when dinner is ready."

He brushed the redhead's bangs away from his forehead, mentally noting that Eiji still had a slight fever. He'd ask Tezuka to let Eiji rest during practice if he was still sick in the morning. The serious half of the Golden Pair noticed that Eiji's breathing had evened out just as he was about to tell the acrobat to go ahead and lay down. Apparently Eiji _was_ very tired if he could fall asleep sitting up.

"Ow! That's not cool, Karupin. It's just not cool at all!"

Apparently Karupin had tired of watching his(3) owner be semi-molested by Momo and had sunk his claws into Momo's leg to get the couple's attention. Oishi breathed a sigh of relief. At least he didn't have to break them up now.

A soft knock sounded throughout the room before Nanako-_san_ peeked inside. "_Ojisan_ was going to tell you that dinner was ready earlier, but for some reason he came back downstairs without doing that. Well, if you guys are hungry, come downstairs, okay?"

The door slid shut once again.

"_Oyaji_ was here?" Ryoma appeared rather confused. Fuji laughed, held his camera closer to him, and said, "_Saa_... I didn't see him, but I wasn't paying much attention."

Kaidoh was _still_ blushing.

Inui was _still_ writing in his notebook.

Momo was _still_ griping at Echizen's cat.

Eiji was _still_ asleep—well, it hadn't been _that_ long—and leaning against him, not that Oishi minded in the slightest. It was nice to know that his partner felt comfortable enough around him to sleep in his presence. It was also rather endearing.

As everyone filed out of the room, Oishi roused his boyfriend. Eiji blinked sleepily before giving him a light kiss to thank him for waking him for dinner. The redhead then hopped to his feet and helped Oishi up. They walked down the stairs together, hands intertwined and smiles gracing their features.

**To be continued...

* * *

**

Notes:  
(1) _He wasn't too sure about Kawamura_: I was sorely tempted to make Taka-san have an obvious crush on either Fuji or Akutsu Jin. I adore both of those pairing, but, alas, I had already announced that Fuji would be paired with Tezuka. So paired with Tezuka he shall be.  
(2) _Taka-_san: I _know_ I've heard Fuji call him that in the series.  
(3) _...Karupin had tired of watching his..._: I don't know if Karupin's male or female, but I'm going with male for this story.

* * *

Glossary of Terms:  
_Mamushi_— "Viper"; How Momo refers to Kaidoh.  
_tensai_— "genius" or "prodigy."  
-_senpai_— upperclassman.  
-_chan_/-_san_— terms of endearment/respect.  
_Ochibi_— roughly "Kiddo"; Eiji calls Ryoma this.  
_Hoi_— nonsensical term used by Eiji.  
_Ojisan_— uncle.  
_Oyaji_— roughly translates to "old man"; Ryoma uses this term to refer to Nanjirou.  
_Saa_— something like "Who knows?"

* * *

--_Wolfram003_--  
(Please review!) 


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N**: I am _so_ tempted to bring in characters from other schools now... 'specially Ohtori and Shishido. They are quickly becoming one of my favorite pairings, but they're still ranked below the Golden Pair.

* * *

_**Shattered Reality**  
Chapter Eleven  
by Wolfram003_

Tezuka Kunimitsu frowned. Everyone on the tennis team—excluding Kawamura—was acting unusual during their daily afternoon tennis practice. The captain of Seigaku's tennis club had especially noticed a difference in the way Kikumaru was acting. The acrobat was being suspiciously quiet and calm.

Such an event worried Tezuka, though he was positive he didn't show it. When Kikumaru was quiet, the team's moral seemed to decrease—Inui had confirmed this fact with data earlier in the year—by a large amount. The serious boy was sorely tempted to call Inui over and have him explain what had happened since the data collector was bound to know, but he decided he would wait until whatever it was that had passed was revealed.

It didn't take long for just that to happen.

Kikumaru had been in the middle of making a spectacular lunging flip across the court to return Kawamura's shot—Tezuka had chosen the opponents for the practice singles matches that were being held; he had believed that the redhead would benefit the most by playing the stronger youth—when he had just frozen in place, wincing as he futilely attempted to keep himself from hitting the ground harshly. He was still for a moment, and all of the regulars—Oishi more so than the others—stopped what they were doing to watch him with worry lacing their features. The redhead sat up slowly and made a pained face, rubbing his back and right cheek slightly. Tezuka immediately noticed the strange absence of _nya_-ing that usual followed his falls.

The captain heard Kawamura Takashi become surprisingly quiet even as he gripped his tennis racket. The normally shy boy rushed over to his opponent and asked something quietly, dropping his racket and gesturing to the other boy's cheek. When Kikumaru looked away without answering—he looked a bit too flushed to be healthy—Tezuka finally decided to find out what was wrong; he was tired of being kept in the dark.

He strode onto the court, his mere presence demanding attention. Patiently, he waited for Seigaku's acrobatic player to look up at him, and his eyes widened when the redhead did just that. _How_ could he have missed the giant, _dark_ bruise on Kikumaru's face earlier? For that matter, _how_ could he have also missed the fevered flush adorning the catlike boy's features?

He turned to face the remaining surrounding regulars with an expectant gaze. _Someone_ would be telling him what happened soon, or they would all find themselves running laps, with the possible exception of Kikumaru since he was obviously ill. On that note, he reminded himself to let his team know at some point to tell him if someone was sick. It wouldn't be good if one of them passed out on the court.

"Kikumaru," he addressed the acrobat. Eiji shakily stood and cocked his head to the side, and Tezuka was again reminded just how catlike his teammate was. With a frown, he continued, "Go sit down until you feel better."

The shorter boy nodded, running a slim, shaking hand—there was some sort of makeup (Tezuka only recognized it for what it was because his mother wore it occasionally) on his jersey sleeve from where he had wiped his face; perhaps that had been how Tezuka had managed to completely overlook the bruise earlier—through his flipped-out red hair as he headed off the court toward the benches, stumbling when he was half way to them. He caught his balance just as Oishi was about to go after him to help him and continued to the place where he could rest. Even from where he was standing, Tezuka could hear the sigh of relief Kikumaru let out as he laid flat on his back in the shade, bringing an arm up to cover his blue eyes.

"Please explain to me why most of this team knew that Kikumaru was injured and ill and allowed him to play anyway," Tezuka was highly irritated, though he was once again certain he didn't show his feelings. Something had happened. It was not good, either.

Kawamura stood up from where he'd been kneeling beside his teammate, leaving his racket on the ground and stated, "I'd like to know too. Why does it look like he's been hit?"

Oishi spoke up, looking slightly guilty, "I'm sorry, Tezuka! He wasn't running a fever when we arrived. I wouldn't have let him play if he had been."

Fuji opened his ice blue eyes and stepped forward to enlighten him after he failed to respond to Oishi's apology. "Eiji's family... is having a few problems. Don't hold him responsible for not playing at his best, Tezuka. He was," Tezuka frowned even more at the _tensai_'s hesitant pause, "hit by both his father and his sister when he tried to break up a fight between them."

Tezuka didn't know what to say. He hadn't even suspected that such an event had occurred. He nearly jumped as he was startled out his musings by Echizen's voice, "Kikumaru-_senpai_ is very upset. Don't ask him about it." Echizen tugged his hat down over his eyes before adding, "I don't want to hear him cry again. He's loud, and I have to put up with him until he decides to go home."

The brown-haired third-year nearly shook his head as he processed the tail end of what Echizen had said. He had been surprised when Seigaku's first-year regular had requested something kindly. Tezuka somehow thought that he _shouldn't_ have been surprised when Echizen had promptly added a snarky explanation to counter his somewhat thoughtful request.

Kawamura spoke up during the silence—and immense amounts of glaring from an angry Fuji Shuusuke and an annoyed Kaidoh Kaoru—that followed Echizen's statement, "Why were they fighting? The Kikumarus always seem to get along really well when they eat at my family's restaurant."

Then he hesitantly asked, "What did you mean when you said that you have to 'put up with him until he decides to go home'?"

Tezuka's lips were tugged downward into an even more severe frown.

Inui spoke up, holding his data book at his side—Tezuka thought it was quite unusual that he didn't seem to be reading figures from it—, "From what I have gathered, Kikumaru has taken up residence with Echizen's family for the time being and is not willing to go home because he is afraid his father will react just as badly, if not worse, to the news he shares with his sister."

Momoshiro promptly entered the conversation to relieve Kawamura of his growing confusion, "Eiji-_senpai_'s(1) sister told their father that she liked another girl, kind of like how Eiji-_senpai_ likes Oishi-_senpai_. Their dad wasn't happy with that though, not happy at all."

Tezuka blinked. Kawamura blinked. The rest of the regulars were silent before Kaidoh reached over and smacked Momoshiro across the back of the head, _fshuu_-ing.

"Idiot. Don't you ever think before you speak?" the bandana-wearing youth growled.

"Ow! What are you doing, _Mamushi_! That wasn't cool, not at all!"

Tezuka adjusted his glasses and calmly shouted, "Momoshiro, Kaidoh! Twenty laps around the courts, now!"

The captain of Seigaku's tennis club turned to face his vice-captain after he was sure the two had started on their laps, "Congratulations, Oishi. It's about time."

Oishi blushed at the sudden attention from the stoic third-year and stammered, "T-thank you, Tezuka."

Judging by his teammates' reactions, Tezuka found it safe to assume that his observation _of_ the budding relationships on the team went unnoticed _by_ his teammates. Apparently most of them had thought he found such a thing inappropriate. Tezuka fought back a sigh; if he hadn't approved of such a thing, he would have mentioned it.

Fuji was now _openly_ watching him—the captain had the most inexplicable feeling that he'd been watched by Fuji before—with a strange glint in his ice blue eyes. Tezuka was not sure what to make of it. Hopefully he hadn't done anything to anger him. He really did not want to join Mizuki Hajime(2) of St. Rudolph on Fuji Shuusuke's future hit list.

"Kikumaru-_san_ was mad about _that_?" Kawamura looked like he was struggling not to be offended. The rest of the team was apparently struggling with that too, for that matter. Tezuka was indifferent; someone in the world was bound to have a different opinion than him, so why should he be angered by something he couldn't change?

However, he _was_ angered by the fact that Kikumaru's father had managed to hit him—it might have been an accident, but the redhead was still injured because of it—over that difference in opinion. He glanced over at the source of much of the energy of Seigaku's tennis club as the other regulars talked about how terrible it was that such a thing had happened.

Kikumaru Eiji appeared to be resting, literally. The other boy's breathing was deep and even, and Tezuka sincerely hoped someone would be able to wake him up to go back to Echizen's house. As he thought of that, he reluctantly decided to ask, "Is everyone staying at your house, Echizen?"

The snarky first-year tugged his hat adjusted his hat as he nodded in response, "Yes, _buchou_."

Fuji's eyes alit with a new emotion that Tezuka _did_ recognize—mischief. The serious boy was instantly on guard when the _tensai_ smiled nicely, closing his eyes, and suggested, "Tezuka, Taka-_san_, you two should join us. It'll be fun. Plus, Echizen has his own tennis court."

The captain of Seigaku's tennis club knew better though. Fuji was up to something. He had understood most of the underlying message in his words. "_Tezuka, Taka-_san_, everyone else will suffer because I will _not_ be happy if you don't come and stay with us too. Plus, I have blackmail on both of you, so you might want to do what I say_."

The stoic captain felt a bead of sweat trickle down his face at the veiled threat.

Tezuka let his gaze slide over his teammates and was startled when he registered Echizen's reaction to Fuji's statement. The boy had choked on his customary grape Ponta, and Oishi was patting him on his back, asking if he was okay. Apparently Echizen had learned to speak Fuji's unspoken language sometime since he joined the club. It seemed that the boy understood what wasn't being said better than him, too. Tezuka wondered why that piece of knowledge made him feel oddly jealous.

"I can probably come over after I help '_Tousan_ with the restaurant," Kawamura offered. He hesitantly smiled, "I could probably convince '_Tousan_ to let everyone eat there for free, too. Would that help out any?"

Oishi smiled kindly, "Taka-_san_, that's really nice of you. I'm sure Echizen-_san_ would be glad to hear your offer. Feeding a group of nine growing boys probably isn't something he wants to do. Well, Nanako-_san_ actually cooked yesterday, but my point is that that's still a lot of food for one person to cook."

Kawamura nodded understandingly.

Tezuka sighed, "If I come, will someone be willing to explain what is going on in a bit more detail?"

Fuji nodded enthusiastically and volunteered to do so.

Tezuka sighed and yelled out to the rest of the club—at which point Kikumaru quickly sat upright on the bench, blinking sleepily and swaying slightly as he tried to gain his bearings—that practice was over. He heard faint cheers from some of the first-years. Practice had gone on longer than he had thought while he had been trying to get the story out of the regulars.

He told his closest teammates that he'd meet up with them at the Kawamura sushi house later. They agreed, gathered a half-asleep Kikumaru in their midst, and left.

This was going to be a long week that would result in a terrible migraine, Tezuka decided as he tried not to focus on Fuji's strange glances from earlier. He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He _already_ had a bad headache.

**To be continued...

* * *

**

Notes:  
(1) _Eiji_-senpai_'s_: I just realized that Momo actually refers to Eiji as "Eiji-_senpai_" instead of "Kikumaru-_senpai_" in the anime.

(2) _Mizuki Hajime_: I am sorely tempted to bring Mizuki into this story somehow (does anyone have any ideas on how to write him into this?). I adore his laugh, his manipulation of everyone, and his person in general greatly. _Nfu_.

* * *

Glossary of Terms:  
_nya_— A catlike noise used by Eiji.  
_tensai_— literally "genius" or "prodigy."  
-_senpai_— upperclassman.  
_fshuu_— A snakelike hiss used by Kaidoh.  
_Mamushi_— means "Viper"; Momo uses this to refer to Kaidoh.  
-_buchou_— roughly translates to "captain."  
-_san_— formalities; show levels of respect.  
'_Tousan_— dad.

--_Wolfram003_--  
(Please review!)


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N**: This chapter (1,792 words!) is from Yuuta's point of view. It's pretty much Mizuki/Yuuta (which I have now dubbed "**_Mizuuta_**" in my head) fluff with a sprinkle of GP sweetness. I was bored. That is my one and only excuse for writing this.

**Another non-related note**: My personal LJ layout is now Mizuki/Yuuta, if anyone cares to check it out. I did a bit of photoshop-ing.

* * *

_**Shattered Reality  
**__Chapter Twelve  
__by Wolfram003_

"Yuuta-_kun_, let's go out to eat," Mizuki Hajime suggested suddenly. Fuji Yuuta looked up from his homework, startled. He gave the strangely dressed older boy—Yuuta was convinced that his team's manager _still_ had the worst fashion sense ever**(1)**—a wary look.

"Why?"

His question was followed by a short laugh—Yuuta thought the _nfu_-ing sound was so very annoying, but he found it oddly endearing at the same time**(2)**—as Mizuki twirled a lock of his crimped black hair. "I'm done with my work, and I have extra money. I want to eat somewhere other than this school," his _senpai_ eventually explained with an exasperated sigh.

Yuuta shrugged and closed his textbook. He'd humor the older boy for now. He just hoped his _aniki_ didn't find out about this.

He tried his hardest to ignore the calculating smirk that crossed Mizuki's lips as they left the school. A frown tugged at his own lips. His _senpai_ was up to something.

"_Ne_, Yuuta-_kun_," his dark-haired schoolmate began and turned to face him, "where would you like to eat?"

The younger Fuji brother blinked. This was unexpected. He had thought Mizuki had just wanted to drag him along somewhere, but now the older boy was letting him choose where to go. He vaguely remembered a restaurant his _aniki_ had taken him to one time; it had been really good, and the owner had been really nice too. If only he could remember what it was called.

"Yuuta-_kun_?" Mizuki prodded him from his thoughts.

Oh right, it had been called—

"Can we eat at Kawamura Sushi**(3)**?" Yuuta asked with a smile.

Mizuki was still for a moment before he turned around and started walking again, saying, "If that's where you want to eat."

Yuuta decided that the older boy was acting very strange. Never in all of the time that he had known him had Mizuki acted like this. His peculiarly quiet and agreeable demeanor was a bit disconcerting.

They walked in silence for a while until they approached the restaurant. Mizuki smirked back at him as he finally caught up. Then his _senpai_ opened the door and froze, paling slightly.

Curious, Yuuta peeked over his shoulder and immediately found the source of Mizuki's sudden nervousness. His _aniki_ was sitting at a table enjoying a serving of what looked like normal sushi, though Yuuta was positive that it must have been either oddly flavored or unearthly spicy. The rest of Seigaku's tennis club was scattered about the restaurant too, but the brown-haired boy was certain it was the sight of his brother that made Mizuki balk.

Just as his _senpai_ started to back out of the restaurant, they were loudly welcomed by the owner. Yuuta felt the color drain from his face as his brother's strangely open eyes settled on them, the smile dropping from his face. This was bound end badly.

He should have picked somewhere else to eat.

"You should have chosen somewhere else to eat, Yuuta-_kun_."

Apparently Mizuki thought so too, not that Yuuta blamed him in the slightest for thinking such a thing.

"Yuuta! Why is _he_ with you?" his brother, Shuusuke, demanded with a strange glint—Yuuta soon identified it as jealousy—in his icy eyes.

Well, this was awkward. Yuuta had known this was coming, but he hadn't wanted to face this situation for another few weeks—that was when he would visit home again—at least. It had been embarrassing enough when his brother had walked in on Mizuki's strange "training session"—his manager had _said_ he was trying to help him learn to control his breathing better; Yuuta had reluctantly forgiven him for stealing his first kiss**(4)**, though he admitted to himself that it had been quite nice—to ask if he could borrow a book and had reacted badly to the situation presented to him. Yuuta had never seen his _aniki_ so jealous. Yuuta had never seen _Mizuki_ so nervous.

It had been an interesting experience, and, while he had discovered many things about his _aniki_ and his _senpai_, some of which he could have lived without knowing, both he and Mizuki had decided to pretend that that day had never occurred.

However, he was almost certain that St. Rudolph's manager had asked him out to dinner tonight as an attempt to ask him on a date. That was the only way he could explain the wavy-haired boy's reaction to his brother being there. Surely Mizuki was having flashbacks of that large book that had connected with his forehead. Yuuta thought it would be rather hard _not_ to remember that incident when his brother's expression was the same as it had been that night.

Mizuki was twirling a lock of his hair as he _tried_—his _senpai_ was still unnaturally pale—to calmly state, "I'm buying Yuuta-_kun_ dinner. He wanted to eat here, so we're eating here. Let's go sit down, Yuuta-_kun_."

Yuuta blinked; at least he was being honest. He soon found himself being dragged over to sit at a table on the opposite side of the room from his brother. Mizuki looked pained as he briefly pressed his fingers to his forehead, and Yuuta asked him if he was okay.

"I have a headache," Mizuki explained with a slight wince.

Ah, so he _was_ having flashbacks. Yuuta found himself pitying the older boy as he briefly glanced around the room. He gulped as he saw a flash of silver next to his brother. He glanced back at his dinner partner and sighed in relief. At least Mizuki hadn't noticed that knife by his brother. Though, Yuuta really didn't want to be in this restaurant now. His reasons were the following: his brother had anger management issues, hated Mizuki Hajime, and had a knife near him. _None_ of those were particularly pleasing thoughts for Fuji Yuuta.

Hopefully Tezuka Kunimitsu, the captain of Seigaku's tennis club, would keep his brother from doing anything drastic. He shared a _look_ with the captain and pitied him briefly. Apparently the older boy didn't want to be there any more Mizuki and he did.

"Yuuta-_kun_, why does your brother feel the need to constantly watch me when I'm near you?" Mizuki sounded annoyed as he moved his hand from his forehead to rest on the table in front of him.

"_Hoi_, you manipulate people," someone bluntly answered from the table beside them.

The two St. Rudolph students turned to face the source of the interruption. Yuuta blinked several times as his eyes focused on the large bruise on the face of one Kikumaru Eiji—he only knew the older boy because the redhead had been to his house several times when he had been living there—, and his lips tugged downward into a frown. Across from him, Mizuki was surprisingly without a snide remark or response to the redhead's previous statement.

"Kikumaru-_san_, what happened?" Yuuta asked cautiously.

The redhead immediately reached up and covered his cheek, his features taking on a distressed quality. "It's nothing, _nya_. I just tripped and fell."

It was a bad lie, and though the acrobat was obviously aware that it was, he didn't try to fix it. Next to the catlike boy, Seigaku's vice-captain, Oishi Shuichirou, watched his doubles partner with a worried expression, and as he opened his mouth to say something, the redhead leaned against his shoulder. Oishi glanced around before hesitantly reaching up to stroke the other boy's crimson hair with a fond, if somewhat sad, smile.

Yuuta blinked and decided not to pursue the subject since it obviously upset the older boy.

He looked around and was startled that he had overlooked something so extremely obvious about Seigaku's tennis club. Every single boy was paired up with another, even Kawamura Takashi whom he had deemed the straightest of the team. The normally shy boy was sitting across from a frightening boy with spiky gray hair.

He did a double take. Was that Yamabuki's Akutsu Jin? What a strange couple.

Well, if everyone was so open about it, then Yuuta gathered that it was safe to assume no one in the restaurant had a problem with that type of relationship. He pondered over what he was about to do for a moment. There was no doubt in his mind that his brother would not like it, but...

"Mizuki-_san_?"

The other boy turned his head to look at him with a raised eyebrow, and Yuuta grabbed the front of his violet silk shirt, pulling him closer.

Silence drenched the noise in the restaurant like a bucket of icy water over a fire as Yuuta pressed his lips against the black-haired boy's. Mizuki seemed startled before he smirked against the younger Fuji's lips and kissed him back. They jerked back from each other as they heard a commotion from Fuji Shuusuke's side of the room.

Across from him, Mizuki seemed torn between being extremely pleased with the situation and wanting to run far, far away. Yuuta watched as Tezuka physically restrained his _aniki_ to keep him from storming over to their table or, most likely, throwing something, possibly that knife Yuuta had noticed earlier, at Mizuki. Yuuta cast a grateful nod in Tezuka's general direction, though the captain was too busy to recognize his gesture of thanks.

"Ne, Yuuta-_kun_? Would you like to go out on a proper date?" Mizuki smirked, quietly _nfu_-ing as Seigaku's brown-haired _tensai_ fought valiantly to escape the now combined clutches of Tezuka Kunimitsu and Momoshiro Takeshi. Yuuta had to admit that he was also a bit amused by the situation as he nodded in response to Mizuki's question with a grin.

"Ow! Fuji-_senpai_, biting's not cool! It's not cool at all!"

Mizuki was rapidly paling once again as Momoshiro let go of his new boyfriend's brother in order to rub the reddened bite mark on his arm. The wavy-haired boy stood up quickly and offered his hand to the younger Fuji brother. "Let's go somewhere else, Yuuta-_kun_."

Yuuta firmly grasped his boyfriend's hand and stood, trying not to grin at Kikumaru's whispered—the younger Fuji understood his lack of volume; the redhead didn't want to anger his _aniki_ further—cheer of, "Go, Yuuta-_kun_!"

Then they left, ignoring the pained yelps that had the passersby turning to glance at Kawamura Sushi in curiosity.

The two St. Rudolph students walked together hand in hand for a while before Mizuki started laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. Yuuta joined in shortly after his boyfriend had started _nfu_-ing. "Your brother is going to kill me, Yuuta-_kun_."

For some reason Mizuki was still laughing even as he said that.

For some reason, Yuuta found it funny too, though he hoped Mizuki hadn't meant that literally.

His brother might actually do it.

**To be continued...

* * *

**

Notes:

**(1)** _...had the worst fashion sense ever_: I have this love-hate thing going on for Mizuki's taste in clothing. I love it because it constantly amuses me. I hate it because it makes me cringe.  
**(2)** _...sound was... annoying, but... oddly endearing_: That's my personal opinion on Mizuki's _Nfu_-ing. It's grown on me quite a bit since I first heard it though. Tenimyu Mizuki has also influenced my opinion quite a bit.  
**(3)** _Kawamura Sushi_: I really don't know what Taka-san's family's restaurant is called... Does it have an official name?  
**(4)** _Mizuki's strange "training session"...to control his breathing...stealing his first kiss_: I truly think Yuuta is _this_ naive. This scene was mostly spurred on by the review suggestion of **_Old Fiat_**, though I changed it a bit. I thought it would be fun to write, so I did.

* * *

Glossary of Terms:

-_kun_/-_san_— formalities; show levels of respect.  
_senpai_— upperclassman.  
_aniki_— formal version of "brother"; shows a large amount of respect.  
_Ne_— roughly "hey."

* * *

—**_Wolfram003_—  
**(Please Review!)


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** I _was_ going to update this around Thursday, but I finished it today (1742 words!). That's a good thing though, right?

**Non-fic note:** I drew some Silver Pair fanart, if anyone wants to look at it. The links to my drawings can be found on my profile page. Oh, and Thursday will be the three-month anniversary of my surgery (Yay!). My hair's finally grown back enough that I'm comfortable with it, though it looks oddly like Fuji Yuuta's. Hmm... Maybe I should do a bit of cosplay...

* * *

**_Shattered Reality_**_  
Chapter Thirteen  
by Wolfram003  
_

Kikumaru Eiji yawned loudly, tears forming at the corners of his azure eyes. The nine Seigaku regulars—Taka-_san_'s father had allowed him to come after Akutsu (Eiji had been quite surprised at Taka-_san_'s relationship with the frightening boy) had gone home, grumping about the noise—had returned to _Ochibi_'s house shortly after the fiasco involving the Fuji brothers and Mizuki. The redhead blinked sleepily and glanced at his best friend who had challenged the whole team, separately of course, to a tournament of Tekken 3**(1)** on Ryoma's PlayStation. Needless to say, Fujiko was the official winner of every match so far except for the one he was currently playing with Tezuka.

Eiji raised his eyebrows as the spiky-haired man on the screen, Jin Kazama, defeated the red-haired man, Hwoarang, in the first round. Fuji fumed, and Tezuka watched the screen stoically, oblivious to the anger emanating from the _tensai_. Seigaku's tennis club's captain was surprisingly good at the game.

However, it was only a matter of time before the bespectacled boy lost. After all, he was playing against a frustrated, angry, _pissed off_, Fuji Shuusuke, and when the _tensai_ wanted to win something, he usually won.

Well, he won except when the situation involved Fuji Yuuta, apparently. In that case, Mizuki Hajime won. Eiji tried to fight back a snicker, but he didn't succeed.

Beside him Oishi raised an eyebrow and asked, "Eiji? What are you laughing about?"

The acrobat blinked, grinned, and answered, "I was thinking about dinner. I feel kind of sorry for Mizuki. I think Fujiko will be out for his blood even more than usual now. Actually, I think I feel worse for Yuuta-_kun_. He has to put up with those two."

Oishi gave a hesitant smile, reached out, and ran his fingers through Eiji's hair. The catlike boy _nya_-ed and scooted over to lean against his boyfriend. They smiled at each other and leaned in for a kiss...

Then Tekken 3 _loudly_ announced that Hwoarang was the winner. Fuji did _not_ look the slightest bit happy as he met the combined gaze of the Golden Pair. Apparently he had heard their conversation. Eiji grinned and waved a bit, "Cheer up, Fujiko! They obviously like each other..."

He trailed off, and his grin wavered as his friend downright _glared_ at him. Pouting, he looked away, "Okay, okay, I get it. It's a touchy subject."

Pausing, Eiji lightly brushed his fingers across his bruised cheek. His blue eyes softened and took on a sad glint as his smile completely melted from his features. Sadly, he continued, "_Hoi_, there seem to be a lot of touchy subjects these days."

The redhead leaned against his boyfriend and grinned again as he changed the subject, trying to ignore the startled expression that flashed across Fuji's face at his earlier seriousness, "Hey, at least everyone's okay with us, _nya_? That's not a touchy subject at all. Who would have thought that everyone on the Seigaku regulars is in love with another man?"

Eiji made a face and admitted with a conspiring whisper, "Well, I don't know about Tezuka-_buchou_, but I'm sure a certain _someone_," he pointedly glanced at the honey-haired _tensai_ across the room before continuing, "would be happy if he was."

The redhead blinked and asked curiously, "Why are you laughing, Oishi?"

The dark-haired boy grinned, "By the end of the week, they'll be together. I'm fairly sure of that, Eiji."

"I'll confirm that the likelihood of such an event happening is 92 percent." Eiji jumped and looked at Inui incredulously. Did the data collector listen in on _everyone's_ conversations? Forcing a grin, he asked, "I-is that so, Inui?"

"Yes. From my calculations, there is a 98 percent chance that Fuji-_kun_ has romantic feelings for Tezuka. Probability that Tezuka shares these feelings—86 percent. Therefore, there is a 92 percent chance of a romantic relationship forming between the two at some point. Most likely, judging from how many of us have coupled together in such a short amount of time, it should happen sometime this week**(2)**," Inui stated as he adjusted his glasses.

Eiji miraculously kept himself from making a face when he tried to think of the phrase _romantic relationship_ in conjunction with the name _Tezuka_. It didn't work, and he actually made a face as he felt a part of his brain die from pondering the impossible. He glanced across the room at his friend who seemed quite a bit calmer now that he had officially beaten—thankfully, only videogame-wise—everyone on the team. Fujiko was having a nice, quiet, non-blackmailing conversation with their captain, and Tezuka genuinely appeared to be enjoying himself.

The redhead let his face relax and shrugged slightly, ignoring the puzzled looks from both Oishi and Inui; maybe Fujiko and Tezuka _would_ actually let their feelings be known aloud soon.

...And maybe the world would freeze over.

"Hey! It's snowing!**(3)** It's really snowing!" Momo exclaimed excitedly.

Eiji felt his eyes widen. There was no way. _No way_. Sure, it had been cold for the past week; that's what happened in the middle of winter. It hadn't been _that_ cold though!

"No way!" the acrobat bolted toward the window and stared outside in disbelief. Momo was right; it was snowing. Small sparkling flakes fell from the strangely full fluff in the formerly star-speckled sky **(4)**. Everything was dusted in a thin layer of white fluff. At least the snow wasn't sticking, right?

"It's sticking around too, Momo-_senpai_," Ryoma added blandly, taking a sip from his almost ever-present Ponta can.

Now, Kikumaru Eiji was not a very superstitious person—though he never did walk close to a ladder after that one incident which involved white paint if he could help it; he liked having _red_ hair, thank you very much—, but since everything he seemed to be thinking was coming true, he was a little paranoid. Maybe Echizen-_san_ would let him stay home tomorrow and sleep off his stress. Eiji let the corners of his mouth turn up slightly; yeah right, like that would actually happen.

His back stiffened as he heard the door to Ryoma's room open.

"_Oyaji_," the first-year acknowledged his father. The young boy turned his golden-brown gaze to the oldest male in the room and raised a slim eyebrow, "Why are you here?"

Nanjirou blinked as his brain took in the sight of his son and Momo standing close together, though not as close as that one time before grinning and explaining, "I just wanted to let you boys know that it's supposed to snow for quite a while. They even said on the news that it might be a blizzard. Seigaku's already announced that it won't be in session tomorrow along with a few other schools, so stay up as late as you want."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't," he left with a lecherous wink, and Ryoma choked on his Ponta.

The room was incredibly still for a moment except for Karupin's _nya_-ing as Kaidoh continued to play with the feline and the scratching of the tip of a pen on Inui's notebook. Everyone blinked in shock before turning toward Ryoma who was still choking. Momo finally patted the poor boy on his back and asked curiously, "What exactly _wouldn't_ your dad do?"

Ryoma blushed bright red; Momo took that to mean, "_Not a lot_" and promptly kissed the younger boy.

Eiji blinked and shook his head. At least there hadn't been any love confessions yet. _Yet_ being the keyword in that sentence. The redhead was prepared for that to happen at any given moment.

Hours passed, and somehow the group ended up playing another game of _Truth or Dare_, as if they hadn't learned enough from the last time. Fujiko had his camera out again and was snapping pictures at the worst possible moments. Kaidoh and Momo were out of the game—the two rivals had been forced to drink the latest Inui juice and were now unconscious—after they had flatly refused to kiss each other again. Fuji had clearly given them that dare for his own amusement.

Now it was _Ochibi_'s turn, and he seemed to be particularly vindictive now that Momo was out of the game. With a snarky smirk he asked his victim a simple question. "Tezuka-_buchou_, truth or dare?"

Eiji belatedly recalled that Tezuka hadn't been there for the last game as he stood up from where he'd been leaning against the wall in search of a more comfortable place to flop down. He was getting too hot leaning against Oishi; maybe his fever must came back to haunt him once again. Why had he stayed out in the rain? At the present time, his decision made absolutely no sense to him, and he felt really stupid for letting himself get sick because of it. Oh well. What was done was done. He couldn't change what had happened.

"Dare, Echizen."

The redhead felt a shiver go through his spine as Inui passed a camera to Taka-_san_ and whispered, "There's a 100 percent probability that this will be amusing. Take a picture, Kawamura, while I write notes." The normally shy boy nodded with a hesitant affirmation.

"Tezuka-_buchou_, I dare you to confess your love to Fuji-_senpai_, ask him out on a date, and kiss him," Ryoma's snarky smirk grew into a grin.

Eiji froze. No way. That had been the only thing he had thought that _hadn't_ come true. Surely, Tezuka wouldn't do such a thing.

He turned around just in time to hear their captain go through with the dare.

"Fuji Shuusuke, I've been attracted to you for some time now. Would you," the stoic boy paused as if carefully choosing his words, "be willing to accompany me to dinner tomorrow night, given that the snow stops?"

Fuji was blushing at the sudden confession and his ice blue eyes were open in shock; apparently he hadn't expected their captain to go through with the dare either. The honey-haired _tensai_ nodded slowly, and his lips curved into a genuine smile. Then Tezuka leaned in and kissed him gently.

Tezuka-_buchou_ was a closet romantic. Who would have thought?

Eiji saw the world spin around him and knew that now all of his earlier thoughts had come true. He hadn't been prepared for love confessions between Fujiko and Tezuka after all, and his fever was back. His legs buckled and darkness clouded his vision.

Well, it worked before, so it should work now. Maybe Oishi would catch him.

**To be continued...

* * *

**

Notes:

**(1)** _Tekken 3_: I chose this game because despite it's bad graphics and its age, it's still one of my favorites. That, and I find it can be a pretty violent game, if you have a good enough challenger. (It also helps that it was sitting right next to me as I typed this up, so I had a hard time resisting the urge to add it into the story somehow.)  
**(2)** Inui's calculations: I did these myself, so they're pretty simple. Yeah... that's all I have to say about that.  
**(3)** _"Hey! It's snowing!": I just realized that I never fully stated what season it was. Of course, where I'm from the weather is prone to going from one extreme to the next without warning. Seriously, it snowed quite a bit one summer. It was really freakin' strange. o.o;  
**(4)** Small sparkling flakes fell from the strangely full clouds in the formerly star-speckled sky: How's that for some alliteration?  
**(5)** ...white paint... he liked having red hair..._: In honor of Episode 99: The Cursed Racket. I love that episode.

* * *

Glossary of Terms:  
-_san_/-_kun_— terms used to show varying levels of respect.  
_Ochibi_— roughly "kiddo."  
_tensai_— literally "genius" or "prodigy."  
_hoi_/_nya_— nonsensical terms used by Eiji.  
_buchou_— "captain."

* * *

—_Wolfram003_—  
(Please review!) 


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** Eh... I guess the Tenipuri group will be playing in the snow in the next chapter. I felt like writing something fluff-ish. I hope it turned out okay. This is a bad place in the story for me to be getting a bout of writer's block.

**A/N 2:** Wow... I didn't realize so many people read this. :D

**A/N 3:** I apologize for any typos. I'm tired and don't feel like editing this too much. I did the first half though.

* * *

_**Shattered Reality**  
Chapter Fourteen  
by Wolfram003_

Echizen Ryoma's room was incredibly small, Oishi Shuichirou noted as he tried to find a comfortable position on the floor. Everyone else was already asleep and/or still unconscious from the game of Truth or Dare. He rolled over to look at the redhead beside him; at least he had caught Eiji when the other boy had fainted. Though, he was a bit worried that the acrobat hadn't woken up yet. Had the redhead been _that_ tired, or had his fever spiked _that_ high again?

He wasn't too sure that he wanted to think about the reason Eiji was sick in the first place and now unconscious. Such a thought made him feel ill. How could anyone in their right mind hurt Kikumaru Eiji?

Someone was snoring loudly. It was probably Momo, Oishi thought as he heaved a sigh. No, it was too loud to be just one person, and the sounds were coming from the same area. The dark-haired boy yawned; maybe Echizen was snoring also. The younger boy had been snoring the other day, so it would only make sense that he would continue to do so. Plus, he and Momo were sharing his bed; Ryoma had apparently tired of sleeping on the floor of his own room.

Oishi wasn't quite sure why Momo was on the bed also. Perhaps Echizen had decided that the second-year had suffered enough for one night after drinking the latest juice cooked up by Inui. Maybe the first-year just wanted extra warmth because he was lacking blankets—Fuji had stolen them earlier, and Echizen hadn't protested when the _tensai_ had given him a _look_—and his fluffy, warm cat had abandoned him in favor of sleeping next to Kaidoh who was surprisingly good with animals.

He found the latter somewhat more believable than the former, given Echizen's typical disposition.

The serious half of the Golden Pair rolled over onto his other side, glancing up and out the window. The snow was still falling as it had been for several hours now. Everything left unsheltered from the blizzard was now covered with nearly two feet of white fluff.

Oishi burrowed further into his blankets. Just _looking_ at the snow made him want to shiver. He was already rather cold; the house's heater wasn't working nearly well enough to ward away the chill. Well, he was also probably cold because the majority of the team was sleeping on the floor with nothing other than a light blanket—well, Fuji had a multiple nice _warm_ blankets and was sharing them with a hesitant Tezuka; Seigaku's captain was clearly wary that the _tensai_ would pull a prank of some type on him and/or take some sort of blackmail photo—and a pillow each; Nanako-_san_ had softly apologized for the lack of spare futons, and everyone had quickly insisted that it was alright. They were the ones who had decided to stay the night without much warning, after all; none of the permanent residents of the Echizen household should have to apologize for the accommodations.

He was startled from his thoughts as someone mumbled in his sleep, and Oishi promptly registered the sound as Inui's voice. He listened for a moment before giving up. The taller boy's words were too jumbled with sleep for him to understand, not that he really wanted to anyway.

He let his green gaze slide over to the next occupant of the room.

Kaidoh was resting next to Inui—the older boy had conveniently draped his arm across the second-year, trapping him—and holding Karupin close to his chest. The gruff boy's bandana had disappeared sometime during the night—Oishi was almost positive that it was in Inui's possession at the moment—, and his midnight-colored bangs fell softly against his forehead just above his closed eyes. Kaidoh made a small noise of discomfort as he shivered a bit before scooting closer to the tallest member of the team for extra warmth.

A short ways away from the dark-haired couple, Fuji and Tezuka lay wrapped in a cocoon of warm blankets. Fuji's smile was strangely absent in his sleep, and while such a sight was usually frightening, the sleeping honey-haired boy did not seem like he could hurt a fly. Next to him, Tezuka—Oishi noticed that he looked quite a bit different without his glasses—seemed quite a bit less serious than he was when he was aware. The vice-captain raised his eyebrows; apparently the phrase "_Yudan sezuni ikou_" did not apply when one needed rest.

His gaze drifted over to the shy—usually—member of the team. Taka-_san_ was resting on his stomach, face buried in his pillow. The normally polite boy's soft snores drifted across the room, barely reaching Oishi's ears.

Oishi smiled; at least most of the team was quiet and resting well.

The vice-captain restlessly rolled over on his side, facing his boyfriend again. He studied the redhead's relaxed features, frowning at the bruise that marred Eiji's normally lightly tanned skin that was still unusually pale. The ever-present bandage starkly contrasted with the nearly violet skin of the acrobat's cheek.

Eiji's eyebrows furrowed, and he twitched slightly in his sleep as if he were having an unpleasant dream. Oishi frowned and reached out a hand to smooth down his crimson locks, but he drew his hand back quickly as his boyfriend's eyes slowly opened. The acrobat blinked sleepily for a few moments before scooted closer to him, mumbling something about having a bad dream and being cold.

Oishi gave a small smile; it was nice that Eiji had finally woken up. He'd been worried for a while. The redhead asked him why he was smiling, and the vice-captain told him that it wasn't important before wrapping his arms around the other boy and drawing him closer to him.

"Is this warmer?" Oishi asked.

Eiji didn't reply; he had already passed back into the world of dreams.

Oishi smiled as he felt his eyes drift shut. He wasn't worried anymore for now. Eiji was okay.

He slept.

**To be continued...

* * *

**

Glossary of Terms:  
_tensai_— genius or prodigy.  
-_san_— suffix used to show respect.  
_Yudan sezuni ikou_— roughly "Don't let your guard down."

--_Wolfram003_--  
(Please Review!)


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